ene  Gredory 


itHIitlllllllliill! 


iiii 


The 
French    Revolution 

and    the 

English   Novel 


By 

AUene  Gregory,  Ph.D. 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 

New   York  and   London 

Zbc  iknlckerbocl^cr  press 

1915 


Copyright,  19  is 

BY 

ALLENE    GREGORY 


Ube  ftnicfierbocbet  press,  View  IQoclt 


DBRARY 

UWrVERSITY  OF  CAIJFORIVW 

SA.NTA  UAJniAHA 


^0 
MY    MOTHER 


PREFACE 

THIS  study  in  the  tendenz  novel  was  begun 
with  the  idea  of  paralleHng  Dr.  Hancock's 
book,  The  French  Revolution  and  the  English  Poets, ' 
in  furnishing  detailed  consideration  of  a  literary 
form  which  Professor  Dowden's  general  treatment 
of  the  period  necessarily  presents  in  outline  merely. ' 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  Revolutionary 
poets  and  the  Revolutionary  novelists  must  rest 
their  claims  to  our  interest  on  different  grounds. 
A  discussion  of  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Byron, 
and  Shelley  needs  no  justification.  But  it  must 
be  confessed  that  the  novelists  we  are  about  to 
consider  can  not  escape  the  condemnation  of 
mediocrity.  There  is  scarcely  one  of  them  whose 
work  has  lived  through  the  intervening  century. 
What,  then,  shall  be  our  apology  for  invading 
their  well-merited  obscurity? 

There  are  two  distinct  uses  of  the  historical 
methods  in  the  study  of  literature.  The  first, 
admirably  exemplified  in  Dr.  Hancock's  book, 
resorts  to  a  study  of  the  age  and  its  antecedents 

'  Albert  Elmer  Hancock,  The  French  Revolution  and  the  English 
Poets,  Henry  Holt  and  Company,  New  York,  1899. 

» Edward  Dowden,  The  French  Revolution  and  English  Litera- 
ture, New  York,  1897. 

V 


vi  Preface 

for  the  purpose  of  gaining  a  truer  appreciation  of 
the  work  of  authors  whose  greatness  unquestion- 
ably warrants  such  effort.  But  there  is  a  second 
use  of  the  historical  method  with  a  somewhat 
dift'erent  end  in  view.  Some  special  phase  of 
literature  may  be  studied  as  a  means  of  gaining 
insight  into  the  intellectual  and  (in  a  broad  sense) 
spiritual  life  of  a  historical  period. 

Considered  with  the  second  purpose  in  mind, 
there  was  perhaps  no  literary  form  in  Revolu- 
tionary England  so  significant  as  these  same  ob- 
scure novels.  The  poets  of  the  time  were  for  the 
most  part  only  temporarily  in  sympathy  with  the 
Revolution.  They  were  carried  away  by  the  tide 
of  popular  enthusiasm,  rather  than  expressing 
their  own  mature  convictions.  The  drama,  in 
some  respects  the  most  social  of  literary  forms, 
was  perhaps  the  least  adapted  to  express  so  com- 
plex and  reflective  a  philosophy.  Moreover, 
censorship,  official  and  popular,  during  the  reac- 
tion served  to  eliminate  from  the  drama  the  later 
developments  of  Revolutionism. 

All  this  might  seem  to  indicate  that  the  proper 
field  for  a  study  of  political  philosophy  is  in  the 
distinctively  doctrinary  and  propaganda  writings 
of  the  time  rather  than  in  any  form  of  imaginative 
literature.  But  Revolutionism  was  more  than 
an  academic  philosophy.  It  was  a  social  religion, 
in  the  sense  that  it  was  to  many  men  their  ' '  serious 
reaction  to  life  as  a  whole." 

Perhaps  every  faith  by  which  men  have  lived 


Preface  vii 

is  better  than  it  seems  from  a  mere  analytical 
statement  of  its  doctrines.  Such  formulations 
have  often  much  the  same  relation  to  reality  that 
an  architect's  plans  and  specifications  have  to 
the  house  they  represent.  The  plans  afford  a 
general  view  and  valuable  information  as  to  the 
soundness  of  construction;  one  would  certainly 
wish  to  see  them  before  making  the  house  one's 
own.  But  the  architect's  plans  do  not  tell  the 
whole  story.  Those  who  have  lived  in  the  house 
may  know  that  certain  rooms  that  appear  dark 
and  ill  ventilated  are  really  little  used;  that  tor- 
tuous passages  have  been  made  easy  by  custom; 
and  that  the  main  rooms  afford  scope  for  a  life  of 
dignity  and  service. 

The  real  value  of  the  novels  we  are  about  to 
consider  lies  not  in  their  intrinsic  merit,  but  in 
the  illustrations  they  offer  of  the  practise  of  Re- 
volutionary ethics,  as  conceived  by  its  sympathiz- 
ers and  its  opponents.  They  are  a  frank  give- 
and-take  criticism  disguised  as  fiction;  and  in  the 
course  of  them  many  values  are  made  plain  which 
the  metaphysical  treatises  somewhat  obscured. 
After  reading  Political  Justice  one  wonders  how 
any  man  whose  sense  of  fact  was  not  entirely 
atrophied  could  have  taken  Revolutionism  seri- 
ously. In  the  novels  one  sees  how  sensible  and 
kindly  men  like  Holcroft  and  Bage  made  of  it  an 
eminently  livable  philosophy.. 

I  wish  to  express  here  my  gratitude  to  Professor 
Chester   N.    Greenough   of   Harvard   University, 


viii  Preface 

under  whose  scholarly  guidance  it  was  my  good 
fortune  to  pursue  this  subject  in  post  graduate 
study,  and  who  at  every  stage  of  the  work  has 
given  me  most  generous  assistance.  My  thanks 
are  due  also  to  Professor  William  Allan  Neilson 
and  Professor  Irving  Babbitt,  to  whose  kindness 
I  am  indebted  for  much  valuable  suggestion  and 
criticism. 

A.  G. 
RocKFORD  College, 

September,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction — On  the  Economic  Interpre- 
tation OF  Literature       .         .         .         .         i 

CHAPTER  I 

Backgrounds       ......       15 

Section  i.     Background  of  Events    .  .       15 

Section  2.     The  Background  of  Ideas        ,       30 

CHAPTER  II 
A  Representative   Revolutionist       .         .       49 
Thomas  Holcroft     .....       49 

CHAPTER  III 
Revolutionary  Philosophers      ...       86 
Section  i .     William  Godwin     ...       86 
Section  2.     The  Young  Shelley  .  .120 

CHAPTER  IV 

Some     Opponents    of    the     Revolutionary 
Philosophers    .         .         .         .         .  134 


X  Contents 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  V 

Revolutionists   and   Radicals   of   Various 
Degrees  .......     i6i 

Section  i.     The  Novels  of  Robert  B age     .      i6i 

Section  2.     Novels    Representing    Miscel- 
laneous Novelists  .  .  .  .180 

CHAPTER  VI 

Some    Typical    Lady     Novelists     of     the 
Revolution      .         .         .         .         .         -191 

Section  i.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Inchbald  191 

Section  2.  Mrs.  Amelia  Alderson  Opie  .  203 

Section  3.  Mrs.  Charlotte  Smith     .  .  213 

Section  4.  Some  Other  Lady  Novelists  .  222 

CHAPTER  VII 

The  French  Revolution  and  the  Rights  of 
Woman  .  .231 

Section  i.     Introduction  and  Background     231 

Section  2.     Mary  Wollstonecraft       .  .     239 

Section  3 .     Some  other  ' '  Rights  of  Women ' ' 
Novels         ......     259 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Some  Other  Forms  of  Literature  Affected 
BY  the  French  Revolution      .         .         .     270 

Section  i .     The  Poets      .  .  .  .270 

Section  2.     The  Drama  ....     283 


Contents  xi 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  IX 

Conclusions         ......     293 

Appendix  to  Chapter  VIII,  Section  2         .     309 

Lists  of  Plays  Showing   Tendencies  Influ- 
enced by  the  French  Revolution     .  .     309 

Bibliography       .         .         .         ,         .         .321 

Index 333 


The   French   Revolution  and 
the   Enghsh   Novel 


INTRODUCTION 

On  the  Economic  Interpretation  of 
Literature 

PREFACED  to  Dr.  Hancock's  discussion  oi  The 
French  Revolution  and  the  English  Poets  there 
is  a  very  suggestive  "Note"  by  Professor  Gates 
iirging  the  extension  of  the  historical  method  in 
criticism.  Under  this  term  he  includes  not  merely 
an  observation  of  the  continuous  development  of 
literary  forms  from  age  to  age,  but  also  a  study  of 
the  historical  events  in  any  given  period  as  an 
aid  to  the  appreciation  of  its  literature.  This 
conception  of  the  relation  of  historical  fact  to 
literary  form  and  content  is  so  sound  that  it  will 
bear  a  fuller  development. 

Our  own  time  has  seen  a  remarkable  change  of 
emphasis  in  the  writing  and  teaching  of  history. 
The  Hsts  of  battles,  treaties,  coronations,  and 
other  epoch  marking  events  which  formerly  con- 


2  The  French  Revolution 

stituted  the  historian's  stock  in  trade  are  now  rele- 
gated to  the  background  as  secondary  causes. 
The  modem  basis  for  the  study  of  a  historical 
period  is  its  economic  and  social  conditions. 

According  to  this  depersonalized  method  even 
the  Great  Man  theory  of  progress,  beloved  of 
literary  historians  for  its  dramatic  value,  has  been 
consigned  to  oblivion  as  unscientific.  Carlyle 
has  been  vanquished  by  Dry-as-dust. 

When  we  have  fairly  made  up  our  minds,  how- 
ever, to  accept  the  Dismal  Science  in  lieu  of  Hero 
Worship,  our  sacrifice  to  intellectual  honesty  is 
more  than  rewarded.  The  Dismal  Science  is 
not  unlike  that  Loathly  Ladie  whom  Gawain 
submitted  to  wed  and  found  a  princess  in  disguise. 
The  sociological  and  economic  method  proves  a 
revealer  of  new  values  and  unguessed  relation- 
ships whereby  both  the  complexity  and  the  signi- 
ficance of  human  events  are  enormously  enhanced. 

If  history  has  been  so  incalculably  the  gainer 
through  the  adoption  of  this  method,  the  question 
naturally  occurs  whether  literature  may  not  share 
in  the  results  of  this  new  accession  of  fact?  One 
would  fancy  this  suggestion  a  matter  of  course, 
requiring  no  comment  or  justification,  but  for  the 
fact  that  it  is  so  seldom  acted  upon  except  in  the 
most  superficial  manner. 

It  may  be  objected  that  all  this  is  included  in 
the  accepted  historical  interpretation  of  literature. 
That  is  not  altogether  true.  Economic  changes 
and  the  resulting  social  conditions  do  undoubtedly 


And  the  English  Novel  3 

affect  literature  through  the  medium  of  the  general 
events  which  they  cause.  But  they  also  affect 
literature  in  a  more  direct  way,  without  the  inter- 
vention of  those  political  occiurences  which  deter- 
mine the  chronology  of  historical  epochs. 

Indeed,  this  chronological  vagueness  forms  one 
of  the  chief  difficulties  in  the  economic  interpre- 
tation of  literature.  Industrial  developments  and 
the  shifting  of  the  balance  of  power  from  one  eco- 
nomic class  to  another  take  place  so  gradually  as 
a  rule  that  the  fixing  of  dates  becomes  a  matter, 
not  of  "when"  but  of  "how  much."  This  pre- 
vents the  obvious  coincidences  of  dates  that  are 
so  satisfying  and  convincing  to  an  order-loving 
mind,  and  makes  the  whole  matter  of  determining 
the  limits  of  periods  distressingly  uncertain.  All 
this  is  very  salutary,  however.  The  student  of 
literature  can  never  be  too  fully  aware  that  he  is 
dealing  with  infinitely  complex  reality.  Chrono- 
logical generalizations  made  in  a  pigeon-holing 
spirit  are  valueless.  They  are  merely  matters  of 
convenience,  like  the  imaginary  figures  one  traces 
among  the  stars  to  aid  in  distinguishing  constella- 
tions. If  they  are  made  a  fetish  and  allowed  to 
destroy  the  sense  of  continuity  they  may  become 
positively  harmful. 

If  one  accepts  the  economic  factor  as  a  basis  for 
generalization  tempered  by  discretion,  however, 
certain  periodic  coincidences  become  apparent. 
An  examination  of  almost  any  one  of  the  generally 
recognized  movements  in  literature  will  show  that 


4  The  French  Revolution 

it  was  immediately  preceded  by  some  economic 
or  industrial  change  of  a  significant  nature,  involv- 
ing a  change  in  the  relative  power  of  the  economic 
groups  in  the  state. 

For  example,  in  the  fourteenth  century  the 
general  aristocratic  and  ecclesiastical  tone  of 
literature  was  broken  by  a  curious  little  strain  of 
pure  democracy.  This  finds  expression  in  the 
writings  of  Langland  (especially  the  Vision  of 
Piers  Plowman,  1 376-1 393),  and  in  the  records  of 
Wy cliff e  and  his  "pore  prestes,"  whose  chief 
contributions  to  the  time  were  a  Bible  translation 
and  some  very  well-organized  trades-unions.  The 
historical  interpretation  of  literature  contents 
itself  with  pointing  to  the  Great  Plague  (1348), 
the  consequent  wage  legislation,  the  preaching  of 
John  Ball  (i  360-1 380),  and  the  rebellion  under 
Wat  Tyler  (1381)  as  the  culminating  event.  Ths 
economic  interpreter  insists  on  going  back  to  the 
common  cause  behind  both  events  and  ideas. 
During  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century 
there  had  been  a  steady  rise  of  the  yeoman  class, 
as  the  villeins  were  emancipated  into  a  free  ten- 
antry. The  lords  of  the  manor,  frequently  in 
want  of  cash,  were  gradually  accepting  a  rent 
paid  in  money  for  their  ancient  claims  to  service. 
It  was  primarily  an  ill-advised  attempt  on  the 
part  of  the  landlords  to  revive  a  rent  paid  in 
labour  that  brought  about  the  Peasants'  Revolt. 
The  attempt  to  extort  labour  rents  was  the  result 
of  the  Great  Plague  and  the  consequent  shortage 


And  the  English  Novel  5 

of  labour.  But  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  event 
alone  would  have  had  little  effect  but  for  the 
gradual  class  development  that  preceded  it. 

Here  we  have  a  situation  not  unlike  that  in 
England  at  the  time  of  the  French  Revolution: 
a  class  is  gradually  gaining  in  power  and  import- 
ance when  some  event  occurs  (the  Plague  in  one 
case,  and  the  invention  of  the  power  loom  in  the 
other),  which  precipitates  a  sharp  clash  of  inter- 
ests. There  is  a  corresponding  conflict  of  ideas, 
and  a  sudden  prominence  given  to  revolutionary- 
concepts  in  literature.  But  in  both  cases  it  was 
a  minority  report;  a  side  current  in  literature, 
and  a  political  movement  of  revolt  that  proved 
abortive. 

Again,  the  history  of  a  social  form  of  literature 
like  the  drama  offers  excellent  material  for  eco- 
nomic discussion.  The  growth  of  the  market 
towns  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  Guilds  have  a 
very  direct  bearing  upon  the  development  of  the 
miracle  and  morality  plays.  As  the  drama  was 
taken  up  by  a  wealthier  class,  and  became  the 
concern  of  men  of  leisure  and  learning,  it  assumed 
a  different  form  altogether.  The  closing  of  the 
theatres  was  brought  about  by  a  social  crisis 
directly  traceable  to  economic  changes.  Restora- 
tion Comedy  and  the  heroic  plays  were  class 
drama ;  so  were  Sentimental  Comedy  and  Domestic 
Tragedy.  The  transition  between  them  coincides 
with  a  decided  increase  in  the  power  of  the  mer- 
chant and  manufacturing  classes  at  the  expense  of 


6  The  French  Revolution 

the  land-owning  aristocracy.  This  was  funda- 
mentally an  economic  change,  although  it  found 
expression  in  a  political  Revolution 

All  these  observations  are  superficial  and  com- 
monplace. But  the  method  which  they  are  in- 
tended to  suggest  is  not  one  of  facile  generalization, 
but  of  careful  study  of  the  economic  conditions 
and  the  intellectual  temper  of  a  given  period  with 
a  view  to  ascertaining  causal  relationships. 

It  would  be  easy  to  reduce  this  method  to  ab- 
surdity by  pushing  it  too  far.  But  no  method  of 
literary  interpretation  is  proof  against  a  student 
without  discretion.  It  is  easy  to  recognize  in  the 
literature  of  any  given  period  certain  prevailing 
ideas  and  ideals,  in  spite  of  individual  variations. 
It  is  also  easy  to  perceive  periodic  changes  in 
economic  conditions,  resulting  in  changes  in  the 
social  structure.  In  order  to  establish  a  causal 
relation  it  is  not  necessary  to  assume  that 
economic  situation  actually  created  the  idea. 
We  may  say  that  various  ideas  being  present  in 
the  national  mind,  the  economic  condition  is  a 
prime  factor  in  determining  which  ones  shall  be 
emphasized.  An  age,  like  an  individual,  takes  up 
the  problems  it  is  ready  for ;  understands  what  it  is 
capable  of  understanding;  and  believes,  in  general, 
what  it  finds  to  its  own  advantage  to  believe. 
The  interests  of  different  economic  classes  are 
not  the  same,  however.  Consequently  there  fre- 
quently occur  sharp  conflicts  of  ideas,  reflecting 
the   conflicting  interests.     It   is  the  ethical  and 


And  the  English  Novel  7 

aesthetic  standards  of  the  dominant  class  that 
prevail,  as  a  rule. 

Perhaps  at  this  point  it  may  be  well  to  cite  the 
popular  theory  known  as  economic  determinism. 
This  is  our  "economic  interpretation"  carried  to 
an  extreme.  We  may  quote  an  early  and  authori- 
tative statement  of  this  conception,  by  a  political 
and  economic  thinker  the  stimulating  value  of 
whose  writings  is  in  no  wise  affected  by  their  fre- 
quent misinterpretation  at  the  hands  of  over- 
enthusiastic  followers. 

At  a  certain  stage  of  their  development,  the  material 
forces  of  production  in  society  come  in  conflict  with 
the  existing  relations  in  production,  or — -what  is  but  a 
legal  expression  of  the  same  thing — with  the  property 
relations  within  which  they  had  been  at  work  before. 
From  forms  of  development  of  the  forces  of  produc- 
tion these  relations  turn  into  their  fetters.  Then 
comes  the  period  of  social  revolution.  With  the 
change  of  the  economic  foundation  the  entire  immense 
superstructure  is  more  or  less  rapidly  transformed. 
In  considering  such  transformations  the  distinction 
should  always  be  made  between  the  material  trans- 
formation of  the  economic  conditions  of  production 
and  distribution  which  can  be  determined  with  the 
precision  of  a  natural  science,  and  the  legal,  political, 
religious,  aesthetic,  and  philosophic — in  short,  the 
ideological  forms  in  which  men  become  conscious  of 
the  conflict  and  fight  it  out.  Just  as  our  opinion  of  an 
individual  is  not  based  on  what  he  thinks  of  himself, 
so  we  cannot  judge  of  such  a  period  of  transformation 


8  The  French  Revolution 

by  its  own  consciousness;  on  the  contrary,  this  con- 
sciousness must  rather  be  explained  from  the  con- 
tradictions of  material  life,  from  the  existing  forces 
of  production  and  the  relations  of  production.  No 
social  order  ever  disappears  before  all  the  productive 
forces  for  which  there  are  room  in  it  have  been  de- 
veloped ;  and  new  higher  relations  of  production  never 
appear  before  the  material  conditions  of  their  exist- 
ence have  matured  in  the  womb  of  the  old  society. 
Therefore  mankind  always  takes  up  only  such  prob- 
lems as  it  can  solve ;  since,  looking  at  the  matter  more 
closely,  we  find  that  the  problem  itself  arises  only 
when  the  material  conditions  for  its  solution  exist  or 
are  at  least  in  the  process  of  formation.  ^ 

Protests  against  the  economic  interpretation  of 
literature  are  likely  to  come  from  two  distinct 
points  of  view.  The  Romantic  critic  will  say 
that  all  this  is  too  materialistic;  that  it  destroys 
the  aesthetic  and  imaginative  and  spiritual  values 
of  literature.  The  humanist  may  object  that  it 
tends  to  substitute  an  over-pragmatistic  concep- 
tion of  the  development  of  ideas  for  the  abiding 
human  values ;  that  it  makes  for  a  sense  of  relativ- 
ity so  strong  as  to  destroy  certain  fine  intellectual 
disciplines. 

The  latter,  as  the  more  serious  objection,  we 
may  consider  first.  If  it  can  indeed  be  shown  that 
an  economic  interpretation  tends  to  diminish  the 

'  Karl  Marx,  A  Contribution  to  the  Critique  of  Political  Economy, 
translated  from  the  German  by  I.  N.  Stone,  pp.  12-13.  Date  of 
publication  of  the  original,  1859. 


And  the  English  Novel  9 

humane  dignity  of  literature,  and  place  "Law  for 
thing"  above  "Law  for  man,"^  that  objection 
must  be  conclusive.  Certainly  that  would  be 
true  of  any  extreme  or  undiscriminating  use  of 
the  method.  In  the  hands  of  the  humanist  him- 
self, however,  a  full  recognition  of  the  economic 
factor  in  the  Zeitgeist  may  make  for  a  clearer 
perception  of  the  values  that  are  permanent. 
After  all,  it  requires  an  Aristotelian  soundness  of 
judgment  to  profit  by  a  pragmatistic  sense  of  fact. 
The  Romantic  protest  may  receive  a  less  quali- 
fied answer.  Nothing  that  makes  for  a  truer  sense 
of  the  complexity  of  life  and  at  the  same  time  has 
a  synthetic  value  can  result  otherwise  than  in  an 
enrichment  of  the  imagination.  The  imaginative 
and  the  spiritual  values  can  be  trusted  to  take 
care  of  themselves,  to  a  far  greater  extent  than 
their  defenders  are  aware.  Keats' s  dictum  that 
"Beauty  is  truth,  truth  beauty,"  is  neither  "all 
we  know  on  earth,"  nor  "all  we  need  to  know." 
But  if  the  Romantic  critic  is  convinced  of  that 
(and  from  his  fondness  for  the  quotation  one 
might  naturally  suppose  that  he  endorses  it) ,  there 
is  no  conceivable  reason  why  he  should  so  care- 
fully guard  his  cherished  conception  of  "beauty" 
from  the  rude  contact  of  facts  and  ideas.  It  is 
really  a  rather  suspicious  circumstance  when 
beauty  shrinks  from  honest  analysis.  This  type 
of  protest  tends  to  produce  in  the  critic  who  is 

'  Cf.  the  discussion  of  humanism  in  chapter  i.  of  Literature  and 
the  American  College,  by  Professor  Irving  Babbitt. 


10  The  French  Revolution 

interested  in  ideas  rather  than  emotions  a  not 
unnatural  distrust  of  Romanticism.  It  is  not 
fair,  however,  to  misjudge  the  Romantic  ideal 
because  it  is  defended  by  Sentimentalists. 

Often,  however,  the  Romantic  critic  meets  the 
economic  interpreter  half-way.  Like  the  humour- 
ist who  was  so  deeply  interested  in  the  Civil  War 
that  he  was  willing  to  sacrifice  all  his  wife's  rela- 
tives to  preserve  the  Union,  our  defender  of  a 
sacrosanct  and  incomprehensible  beauty  cheer- 
fully admits  that  "tendenz"  literature  may  be 
interpreted  in  the  light  of  economic  conditions: 
but  hands  off  from  true  poetry!  Now  this  is  a 
concession  which  we  can  in  no  wise  accept.  We 
must  have  all  or  nothing ;  for  if  we  cannot  exercise 
judgment  and  discrimination  in  applying  the 
criticism  of  fact  in  really  important  matters,  we 
had  better  let  it  alone  altogether. 

Moreover,  this  concession  involves  a  fundamen- 
tally false  distinction.  In  the  reaction  from  di- 
dacticism and  from  reform  propaganda  disguised 
as  literature  the  very  phrase  "literature  with  a 
purpose"  has  come  to  have  a  damnatory  signifi- 
cance. This  has  its  foundation  in  a  very  right 
feeling  that  the  commonplaces  of  social  and  per- 
sonal ethics  and  the  questions  of  the  day  are  not 
problems  worthy  the  consideration  of  universal 
and  abiding  art.  But  in  our  time  this  half-truth 
has  been  somewhat  over-emphasized.  When  we 
turn  back  to  the  literary  criticism  of  ages  artisti- 
cally greater   than   our    own,    we  find   no    such 


And  the  English  Novel  ii 

imdiscriminating  horror  of  "purpose."  Aristotle 
was  not  afraid  in  his  great  doctrine  of  Catharsis 
to  assign  to  the  highest  of  art  forms  a  purpose — 
to  purify  the  soul.  Milton,  Dryden,  and  Pope 
were  frankly  didactic.  Even  Shakespeare,  al- 
though the  profoundness  of  his  moral  perception 
did  not  admit  of  expression  in  convenient  aphor- 
isms, was  by  no  means  so  purposeless  as  the  advo- 
cates of  "  art  for  art's  sake"  would  have  us  believe. 

The  reconciliation  of  this  apparent  contradiction 
lies,  of  course,  in  the  distinction  between  a  higher 
and  a  lower  "purpose,"  between  a  public  spirited 
interest  in  such  matters  as  housing  reforms  and 
workingmen's  insurance  laws,  and  the  insight 
which  pierces  below  the  surface  maladjustments  of 
the  age  to  the  deeper  issues  involved  which  are 
to  some  extent  true  for  all  ages. 

It  follows  from  this  perception  that  the  Roman- 
ticist's condescending  permission  to  interpret 
"tendenz"  literature  in  the  light  of  economic 
conditions  lays  open  his  very  citadel  to  our  attack. 
Shelley,  par  excellence  the  poet  beloved  of  Roman- 
ticists, is  among  the  writers  whom  we  are  about 
to  discuss  in  his  connection  with  the  Industrial 
Revolution  as  well  as  the  French  Revolution. 

In  his  preface  to  Francis  Thompson's  impres- 
sionistic Essay  on  Shelley,  Mr.  Wyndham  expresses 
the  idea  that  this  is  the  sort  of  appreciation  that 
Shelley  himself  would  have  enjoyed.  Such  a 
generalization  cannot  be  refuted.  But  the  writer 
has  a  private  conviction  that  Francis  Thompson's 


12  The  French  Revolution 

very  beautiful  little  essay  is  precisely  the  sort  of 
appreciation  that  Shelley  would  have  felt  as 
almost  insulting.  The  Shelley  that  we  know, 
not  merely  in  the  poems,  but  in  his  prefaces  and 
prose  works  and  in  the  records  of  his  friends,  was 
rather  intensely  in  earnest  about  ideas  as  well  as 
about  beauty  of  form.  He  submitted  quietly  to 
hatred  and  abuse  during  his  life  rather  than  court 
success  by  writing  poetry  which  did  not  express  his 
unpopular  social  ideals.  One  fancies  how  he 
would  have  "enjoyed"  being  discussed  as  a  per- 
petual child,  no  matter  how  aesthetically  the  con- 
ception was  expressed!  "Bold  foot  along  the 
ledges  of  precipitous  dream"  is  a  fine  phrase  for 
Shelley;  but  his  own  phrase  is  finer,  as  well  as 
more  complete, 

A  nerve  o'er  which  do  creep 

The  else  unfelt  oppressions  of  this  earth 

Shelley  was  beyond  all  doubt  a  writer  with  a 
purpose.  In  the  preface  to  Prometheus  Unbound, 
which  he  himself  considered  the  greatest  of  his 
works,  he  has  left  us  a  frank  confession  of  his 
"passion  for  reforming  the  world,"  together  with  a 
masterly  analysis  of  the  very  point  which  we  have 
been  discussing- — ^the  higher  and  lower  "purpose" 
in  literature. 

We  have  endeavoured  to  indicate  some  ways 
in  which  the  study  of  the  history  of  literature 
might  be  enriched  through  a  closer  alliance  with 


And  the  English  Novel  13 

the  study  of  economic  and  industrial  conditions, 
not  merely  in  so  far  as  they  are  included  ia  the 
general  history  of  events,  but  considered  as  direct 
influences.  We  have  cited  for  purposes  of  com- 
parison an  authoritative  expression  of  the  doctrine 
known  as  economic  determinism,  which  is  the 
extreme  form  of  our  suggestion.  We  have  frankly 
admitted  the  need  of  sound  judgment  in  the  use 
of  this  method  if  it  is  to  be  made  a  valuable  ser- 
vant subject  to  the  discipline  of  that  true  human- 
ism to  which  the  student  of  literature  should 
unceasingly  aspire.  Finally,  we  have  considered 
the  Romantic  objection  that  although  it  may  do 
well  enough  in  the  case  of  an  inferior  form  like 
"tendenz"  literature,  the  economic  interpretation 
is  a  profanation  when  applied  to  the  higher  imagi- 
native forms,  such  as  poetry.  We  have  pointed 
out  that  the  distinction  between  so-called  "ten- 
denz ' '  and  didactic  literature  and  the  literature  of 
great  ideals  is  not  a  distinction  in  kind,  but  in 
depth  of  insight  and  artistic  skill  in  expression ;  and 
that  even  the  most  spiritual  of  Romantic  poets 
submits  to  our  so-called  economic  interpretation 
by  virtue  of  his  concern  with  the  deeper  social 
maladjustments  of  his  age. 

In  the  following  discussion  of  the  "tendenz" 
novels  of  Revolutionary  England  we  shall  endeav- 
our to  illustrate  to  some  extent  the  practical 
application  of  the  method  here  suggested.  To  a 
consideration  of  the  English  history  of  French 
Revolutionary  philosophy,   and  of  the   stimulus 


14  The  English  Novel 

given  to  English  radicalism  by  the  example  of 
France,  we  shall  add  some  observation  of  the 
social  maladjustments  arising  from  the  Industrial 
Revolution  and  their  influence  on  the  thought  of 
the  time. 

For  this  our  treatment  must  extend  somewhat 
beyond  the  period  of  actual  Revolutionary  events. 
We  may  begin  our  discussion  as  early  as  1780 
(the  date  of  Holcroft's  first  novel)  and  continue 
it  at  least  to  include  the  year  1820,  the  date  of  the 
great  dramatic  poem  in  which  the  influences  of 
the  French  Revolution  and  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion converge,  Shelley's  Prometheus  Unbound. 


CHAPTER  I 
BACKGROUNDS 

SECTION  I  :  BACKGROUND  OF  EVENTS 

ONE  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  the 
Hterature  reflecting  the  French  Revolution 
in  England  is  its  apparent  inconsistency.  In 
1789,  poets,  novelists,  and  statesmen  are  touched 
with  a  fine  glow  of  enthusiasm  for  liberty  and  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people.  A  few  years  pass,  and 
these  same  ardent  friends  of  the  Revolution,  all 
save  a  few  stubborn  or  courageous  souls,  have 
recanted,  and  are  busily  engaged  in  exposing  and 
denovmcing  the  dangerous  tendencies  of  their 
former  doctrines. 

It  is  not  sufficient  explanation  to  charge  a  whole 
nation  with  having  been  over  ready  to  praise 
something  which  sober  second  thought  could  not 
approve.  A  closer  analysis  shows  us  that  the 
term  "French  Revolution"  is  a  misleading  one. 
It  should  be,  "French  Revolutions";  for  there 
was  a  series  of  them,  as  different  as  possible  in 
character.  Not  merely  the  course  of  events  but 
the  principles  themselves  were  changed.     A  man 

15 


i6  The  French  Revolution 

might  well  approve  one  without  approving  all. 
Perhaps  then,  it  may  be  well  to  review  briefly  the 
chronology  of  this  extremely  complex  movement. 
France  during  the  reigns  of  Louis  XIV.  and 
Louis  XV.  was  apparently  in  a  flourishing  and 
orderly  condition.  It  was  the  most  brilliant  of 
despotisms.  English  writers,  forced  to  admit  the 
critical  supremacy  of  their  ancient  enemy,  con- 
soled themselves  with  complacent  references  to 
British  liberty  and  the  glories  of  a  constitutional 
government.  But  they  reaUy  accepted  the  feudal- 
ism and  oppressions  of  France  as  one  of  the  unal- 
terable featiures  of  the  universe;  ordained,  perhaps, 
to  furnish  Whig  orators  with  perpetual  material 
for  eloquent  antitheses.  The  Bourbon  regime, 
however,  was  on  an  increasingly  unsound  basis. 
In  the  extreme  centralization  of  the  government 
the  nobles  had  been  deprived  of  their  administra- 
tive functions,  but  not  of  their  feudal  privileges. 
These  in  no  wise  strengthened  their  power,  and 
were  a  soiirce  of  intense  irritation  to  the  non- 
privileged  classes  of  the  bourgeoisie  and  the  pro- 
letariat. Moreover,  what  was  more  important, 
the  brilliant  court  of  Versailles  was  financially 
unsotmd.  In  spite  of  the  complex  and  oppressive 
machinery  of  taxation,  extravagance  and  mis- 
management had  brought  the  French  government 
to  the  verge  of  bankruptcy.  Finally,  the  brilliant 
writers  of  the  Enlightenment  were  furnishing 
eloquent  interpretations  of  the  doctrines  of  popular 
sovereignty   and    political   rationalism  borrowed 


And  the  English  Novel  17 

largely  from  England,  and  calculated  most  effect- 
ively to  undermine  authority  not  based  on  reason. 

A  corrupt  and  frivolous  court;  a  government 
needing  money;  an  angry  people;  and  a  Revolu- 
tionary philosophy  ready  to  hand:  this  was  the 
situation  that  confronted  the  well-intentioned 
mediocrity  of  the  young  Louis  XVI.  on  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne  in  1774.  The  first  fifteen  years 
of  his  reign  were  a  series  of  blunders  in  the  choice 
of  ministers.  After  the  dismissal  of  Turgot, 
sporadic  attempts  at  reform  under  the  sententious 
Necker  alternated  with  periods  of  incredible 
mismanagement  under  the  queen's  favourites. 
By  1783  the  parlements  were  growing  refractory 
and  demanding  the  summoning  of  the  almost 
forgotten  States  General.  The  king  was  forced 
to  submit;  and  in  1789,  after  considerable  archaeo- 
logical research  as  to  methods  of  election,  the 
States  General  met  for  the  first  time  since  161 4. 

Serious  disagreements  as  to  methods  of  voting 
caused  the  Representatives  of  the  Third  Estate 
to  withdraw  and  declare  themselves  the  Con- 
stituent Assembly.  By  this  time  the  turbulent 
mobs  of  Paris  were  aroused.  The  Bastile,  for 
centuries  the  symbol  of  oppression,  was  captured 
by  a  mob;  and  the  Revolution  began  to  assume  a 
somewhat  less  academic  aspect. 

In  the  midst  of  increasing  popular  risings 
the  Constituent  Assembly  continued  serenely  to 
quibble  over  political  metaphysics,  and  in  the 
course  of  time  produced  a  Declaration  of  Rights 


1 8  The  French  Revolution 

and  a  Constitution.  These  documents,  together 
with  the  Cahier  presented  by  local  assemblies  at 
the  opening  of  the  States  General,  represent  the 
constructive  work  of  the  Revolution  up  to  1791. 
These  Cahier s  offered  interesting  evidence  as  to 
the  temper  of  the  three  Estates.  The  clergy  were 
the  most  conservative.  They  are  willing  to  make 
some  gifts  in  return  for  their  exemptions,  but  then 
expected  a  grateful  nation  to  reimburse  them 
at  once.  The  nobility,  somewhat  more  liberal, 
seemed  genuinely  ready  to  sacrifice  their  privi- 
leges and  co-operate  in  reforms.  The  Third 
Estate  (represented,  as  Burke  observed,  chiefly 
by  lawyers  and  small  property  owners,  and  thor- 
oughly bourgeoisie  in  character)  sent'  in  Cahiers 
full  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Social  Contract,  but 
also  distinctly  more  specific  than  those  of  the 
other  two  orders  in  their  demands  for  social  and 
legislative  changes. 

As  might  be  expected  from  such  an  Assembly, 
the  Declaration  of  Rights  is  full  of  echoes  of  Rous- 
seau and  Locke.  "Ignorance  and  forgetfulness 
or  contempt  of  the  Rights  of  Man,"  says  the  pre- 
amble, "are  the  sole  causes  of  public  miseries  and 
of  corruptions  of  government."  But  the  Consti- 
tution itself  is  curiously  conservative.  The  king 
is  given  full  executive  power  and  a  suspensive 
veto,  property  rights  are  carefully  secured,  and  a 
property  qualification  for  the  suffrage  is  insisted 
upon.  On  the  whole,  the  machinery  of  govern- 
ment was  awkwardly  planned,  although  in  the 


And  the  English  Novel  19 

general  conception  there  was  much  of  permanent 
value.  In  September,  1791,  the  Constitution  was 
accepted  by  the  king.  In  the  following  month 
the  National  Legislative  Assembly  was  elected, 
according  to  constitutional  provisions. 

This  marked  the  first  stage  of  the  Revolution. 
So  far,  in  spite  of  occasional  outbreaks  of  mob  rule, 
there  had  been  little  of  which  England  could  not 
approve.  With  the  exception  of  a  few  thinkers 
of  the  type  of  Burke,  popiilar  opinion  was  strongly 
in  favour  of  the  Revolution.  Englishmen  con- 
doned its  faults,  seeing  in  it  a  triumph  of  orthodox 
Whig  principles.  Even  the  abolition  of  titles  of 
nobility  (June  19,  1790)  was  viewed  without 
serious  alarm. 

The  Constituent  Assembly  had  been  almost 
entirely  bourgeois.  But  with  the  year  1792  the 
forces  which  had  hitherto  been  subordinate  began 
to  take  the  lead.  The  plotting  of  Louis  and  the 
court  party,  together  with  the  menaces  of  foreign 
interference  were  rapidly  making  a  constitutional 
monarchy  impossible.  The  Jacobin  clubs  con- 
trolled the  elections.  The  Girondins,  who  were 
the  most  extreme  of  the  philosophic  radicals,  domi- 
nated the  Assembly,  subject  only  to  the  mob  in 
the  galleries.  The  proletariat  was  taking  the 
Revolution  out  of  the  hands  of  the  bourgeoisie. 

In  June,  1792,  the  First  Coalition  was  formed 
against  France.  The  repeated  treachery  of  the 
king  and  queen  lost  them  the  last  remnant  of 
popular  favour,  and  in  August  they  were  brought 


20  The  French  Revolution 

to  Paris  and  imprisoned  in  the  Temple.  A  de- 
mand for  a  new  and  more  radical  constitution 
brought  about  the  election  of  a  National  Conven- 
tion, which  immediately  declared  France  a  Repub- 
lic (September  21,  1792),  and  promised  aid  to 
all  nations  desiring  to  overthrow  their  kings.' 
The  loss  of  trade  monopolies  through  the  opening 
of  the  Scheldt  to  unrestricted  commerce  had 
already  aroused  a  spirit  of  hostility  in  England. 
„  This  action  of  the  Assembly  put  an  end  to  all 
y' former  sympathy  with  the  Revolution.  In  Janu- 
\j-'  ary,  1793,  when  the  king  was  tried  and  executed, 
Parliament  was  on  the  point  of  declaring  war 
against  France.  The  Assembly  forestalled  them. 
From  this  time  imtil  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  war 
between  England  and  France  was  almost  contin- 
uous.    The  treaties  were  little  more  than  truces. 

Events  moved  rapidly  in  France  for  the  next 
three  years.  The  foreign  wars,  the  rebellion  in 
the  Vendee,  continual  fear  of  a  counter  revolution, 
and  the  even  greater  danger  of  mob  law  made  the 
situation  of  the  party  in  power  a  most  difficult 
one.  In  March,  1793,  the  Revolutionary  Tribu- 
nal and  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  were 
established.  The  Terror  was  resorted  to,  not  as 
a  manifestation  of  lawlessness,  but  as  a  govem- 

'  In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  Revolution  the  idea  of  spreading 
the  doctrines  of  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity  by  example 
and  precept  took  a  firm  hold  of  the  French  imagination.  But 
when  the  foreign  wars  began,  the  propaganda  of  a  general  insur- 
rection against  kings  became  a  threat,  and  an  officially  recognized 
part  of  the  poUcy  of  the  Republic. 


And  the  English  Novel  21 

ment  measure  necessary  to  secure  authority  over 
a  lawless  nation.  But  the  guillotine  became  a 
general  resource  of  the  party  in  power ;  and  parties 
changed  with  alarming  rapidity.  The  Jacobins 
\V\^' ousted  the  Girondins,  and  they  in  turn  were  sue-' 
ceeded  by  the  Hebertists,  the  Dantonists,  and 
Robespierre.  After  the  execution  of  Robespierre 
(July  28,  1794),  the  Revolutionary  Tribunal  was 
reorganized,  an  amnesty  offered  the  rebellious 
Vendee,  and  the  Girondins  readmitted  to  the 
Convention.  The  Terror  was  at  an  end.  In  the 
following  year  the  Catholic  religion  (which  had 
been  replaced  by  the  Worship  of  Reason  in  1793, 
and  by  the  Worship  of  the  Supreme  Being  in 
1794)  was  reinstated.  By  October,  1795,  France 
was  again  under  a  Constitution.  The  period  of  the 
Revolution,  as  it  is  usually  considered,  was  closed. 
So  far  we  have  observed  three  distinct  stages 
in  the  attitude  of  England  towards  the  French 
Revolution:  (i)  1789  to  1791,  general  approval  of 
the  fall  of  a  despotism.  A  confident  expecta- 
tion that  France  would  establish  a  constitutional 
monarchy  on  Whig  principles.  (2)  1792.  Rapidly 
waning  confidence  in  the  Revolutionists,  as  the 
bourgeoisie  lost  control  and  the  movement  threat- 
ened to  become  genuinely  democratic.  England 
further  antagonized  by  her  economic  interests. 
(3)  1793  and  1794.  The  reaction  at  its  height. 
War  was  declared.  National  hatred  and  class 
hatred  together  reached  fever  heat.  These  were 
evil  days  for  the  Revolutionists  in  England. 


22  The  French  Revolution 

Dtiring  the  ten  years  preceding  the  battle  of 
Waterloo  hatred  of  France  and  detestation  of 
anything  remotely  suggesting  Revolution  or  even 
reform  continued  unabated.  As  the  power  of 
Bonaparte  increased  an  element  of  terror  was 
added.  England  was  fighting  literally  for  national 
life  as  well  as  for  the  world  market  her  increasing 
manufactures  demanded.  Never  had  the  feeling 
of  nationality  run  so  high. 

The  war  period  from  1795  to  181 5  may  be  said 
to  constitute  a  fourth  period  in  the  history  of 
English  Revolutionism.  The  last  stage,  from  the 
battle  of  Waterloo  to  1820,  was  the  worst  of  the 
reaction,  when  the  stimuli  of  anger,  fear,  and 
patriotism  had  ceased  and  a  heavy  pall  of  dis- 
illusionment and  conservatism  without  ideals 
seemed  to  have  settled  over  the  whole  coimtry. 

Such  were  the  five  stages  of  the  influence  of  the 
French  Revolution  on  popular  feeling  in  England. 
But  a  consideration  of  France  alone  cannot  furnish 
a  sufficient  background  of  events  for  our  discus- 
sion of  so  complex  a  movement  as  Revolutionism. 
Another  and  greater  Revolution  was  nearing  com- 
pletion in  England  itself,  and  it  is  to  this  that  we 
must  look  for  the  explanation  of  many  elements 
in  the  thought  of  the  time. 

The  eighteenth  century  found  English  manu- 
factures under  the  domestic  system;  it  left  them 
under  the  factory  system.  Just  what  that  signi- 
fies we  can  perhaps  understand  better  by  com- 
paring any  factory  town  of  our  own  time  with 


V 


And  the  English  Novel  23 

Defoe's  description  of  his  trip  through  Yorkshire 
in  1724. 

The  land  [he  says]  was  divided  into  small  enclosures 
of  from  two  acres  to  six  or  seven  each,  seldom  more, 
every  three  or  four  pieces  of  land  having  a  house 
belonging  to  them;  hardly  a  house  standing  out  of 
speaking  distance  with  another.  At  every  consider- 
able house  there  was  a  manufactory.  Every  clothier 
keeps  one  horse  at  least  to  carry  his  manufactures  to 
the  market;  and  every  one  generally  keeps  a  cow  or 
two,  or  more,  for  his  family.  By  this  means  the  small 
pieces  of  enclosed  land  about  each  house  are  occupied, 
for  they  scarce  sow  corn  enough  to  feed  their  poultry. 
The  houses  are  full  of  lusty  fellows,  some  at  dye- vats, 
some  at  looms,  others  dressing  the  cloths,  the  women 
and  children  carding  and  spinning;  all  being'employed, 
from  the  youngest  to  the  oldest.' 

The  change  in  the  industrial  system  came  about 
slowly  and  inevitably  through  a  succession  of 
great  inventions.  In  1770  James  Hargreave 
patented  the  spinning- jenny.  In  1771  Ark- 
wright  employed  a  spinning-machine  worked  by 
water-power.  In  1779  Crompton  combined  the 
two.  In  1785  Cartwright  added  the  power-loom. 
Most  important  of  all,  in  1769  James  Watt  took 
out  a  patent  for  his  steam-engine,  which  was  used 
in  mining,  and  later  introduced  into  factories.  To 
these  were  added  a  host  of  minor  inventions  and 

'  Daniel  Defoe,  A  Tour  Through  the  Whole  Island  of  Great 
Britain.     4  vols.     London,  1724-27. 


24  The  French  Revolution 

improvements;  and  by  1790  the  great  change  was 
fairly  complete. 

Closely  connected  with  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion was  a  similar  and  practically  contemporary 
change  in  the  agricultural  system.  As  the  own- 
ership of  land  was  concentrated  in  the  hands  of 
a  decreasing  body  of  proprietors,  many  men  were 
reduced  to  the  status  of  wage-earning  agricultural 
labourers  and  many  were  driven  to  seek  other 
employment.  Common  lands  were  enclosed,  to 
the  great  detriment  of  the  cottager  class.  All  this 
was  caused  partly  by  the  fact  that  the  small  land- 
owning manufacturers,  whom  Defoe  describes, 
were  driven  into  factories  on  wages  that  did 
not  permit  of  their  owning  their  homes,  and 
partly  by  the  tendency  of  the  growing  capitalist 
class  to  acquire  land  for  profitable  farming  on  a 
large  scale.  Also,  in  England  the  ownership  of 
land  carried  with  it  a  certain  social  distinction 
which  made  it  particularly  attractive  to  the  social 
aspirations  of  the  new  aristocracy  of  wealth. 

The  significance  of  these  profound  changes  in 
the  economic  and  social  structure  of  society  is 
hard  to  estimate.  The  most  obvious  result  was 
the  enormous  increase  in  wealth  that  sustained 
England  through  the  Napoleonic  wars  (which 
were  themselves  brought  about  partly  by  the 
struggle  for  a  world  market).  The  growth  of  the 
great  forttmes  fired  the  popular  imagination,  en- 
couraging an  increasingly  extravagant  standard 
of  living.     All  classes   seemed  more  determined 


And  the  English  Novel  25 

than  usual  to  live  just  a  little  beyond  their  incomes. 
As  a  result,  the  debtors'  prisons  were  full,  and  the 
literature  of  the  time  was  pervaded  with  denun- 
ciations of  senseless  luxury. 

Besides  all  this,  there  was  real  suffering  among 
the  dispossessed  working-classes.  These  formed 
a  discontented,  unstable  class,  given  to  riots,  and 
an  easy  prey  to  Revolutionary  demagogues.  If 
there  was  ever  any  real  danger  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  French  Revolution  gaining  a  following  in 
England,  it  was  through  this  class  and  not  through 
the  little  group  of  writers  and  philosophers  whose 
works  we  are  to  consider. 

Theories  of  political  economy  of  cotu"se  adapted 
themselves  to  the  dominant  interests  of  the  time. 
The  laissez-faire  system  was  in  high  favour  in  this 
age  of  individualism.  Adam  Smith's  interpreta- 
tion of  this  accommodating  doctrine  (in  The  Wealth 
of  Nations,  1776)  was  religiously  observed  by  the 
parties  in  power;  the  right  of  the  individual  child 
of  foiu-  to  sell  his  labour  in  open  market  according 
to  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand  was  in  no  wise 
interfered  with.  Consequently  the  accounts  of 
factory  conditions  in  the  Blue  Books  of  the  period 
make  somewhat  ghastly  reading.  The  prevalence 
of  epidemics  among  factory  populations  finally 
convinced  the  dominant  classes  that  in  self -pro- 
tection something  must  be  done  to  remedy  con- 
ditions. In  1802  the  Tories  overcame  their 
terror  of  Revolutionism  sufficiently  to  pass  the 
First    Factory    Act.     But    many    years    passed 


26  The  French  Revolution 

before  Parliament  dared  venture  on  anything  else 
in  the  nature  of  social  reform. 

The  most  fundamental  social  change  growing 
out  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  is  perhaps  less  ob- 
vious. A  shifting  of  power  that  had  been  going  on 
for  over  a  century  was  suddenly  completed ;  the  cap- 
italist, or  the  mercantile  and  manufacturing  class 
had  superseded  the  older  land-owning  aristocracy 
as  the  dominant  class  in  the  national  life.  And  in 
every  historical  period  it  is  the  ideas  and  the  ideals 
of  the  dominant  class  in  that  period  that  prevail. 

Such  changes  are  too  subtle  and  complex  to  be 
indicated  offhand.  We  talk  glibly  enough  about 
the  epoch-making  changes  wrought  by  the  French 
Revolution  in  its  eight  or  ten  years  crowded  with 
the  conflicts  of  parties  and  ideas.  Its  dramatic 
values  appeal  to  the  imagination.  But  who  shall 
estimate  the  dramatic  values  of  the  great  silent 
Revolution  whose  shadow  is  over  us  still? 

The  remaining  topic  in  our  discussion  of  the 
background  of  events  brings  us  once  more  to  the 
safer  ground  of  definite  political  occurrences. 
The  eve  of  the  French  Revolution  found  England 
apparently  on  the  point  of  securing  certain  mea- 
sures of  much -needed  parliamentary  reform.  The 
American  war  had  just  closed  with  the  loss  of  the 
colonies.  It  was  evident  that  there  had  been 
flagrant  mismanagement  from  beginning  to  end. 
In  1783  the  Shelbume  Ministry  was  overthrown 
by  an  alliance  between  the  Whigs  under  Fox  and 
the  Tory  followers  of  Lord  North. 


And  the  English  Novel  27 

Never  [says  Green],  had  the  need  of  a  representative 
reform  been  more  clearly  shown  than  by  a  coalition 
which  proved  how  powerless  was  the  force  of  public 
opinion  to  check  even  the  most  shameless  faction  in 
Parliament,  how  completely  the  lessening  of  the  royal 
influence  by  the  measures  of  Burke  and  Rockingham 
had  tended  to  the  profit,  not  of  the  people,  but  of  the 
borough  mongers  who  usurped  its  representation/ 

In  the  same  year  Pitt  proposed  a  reform  in  re- 
presentation. But  as  the  Whig  majority  had  no 
notion  of  permitting  any  reforms  to  their  own 
disadvantage  the  bill  was  thrown  out.  In  1788 
Wilberforce  brought  in  a  bill  for  the  abolition  of 
the  slave  trade.  This  was  promptly  defeated  by 
the  Liverpool  slave  merchants.  It  was  evident 
that  there  was  a  strong  popular  demand  for  re- 
forms. It  was  also  evident  that  Parliament  was 
in  the  hands  of  those  to  whose  interest  it  was  to 
prevent  reforms.  But  England  had  always  be- 
fore been  able  to  bring  refractory  Parliaments 
to  reason  in  the  long  run. 

At  this  juncture,  however,  the  Revolution  began 
in  France.  Pitt,  always  liberal,  regarded  it  with 
decided  favour.  Burke  alone  among  the  promi- 
nent Whigs  opposed  it.  But  Burke  had  lost  his 
hold  over  the  House  and  his  eloquent  warnings 
had  no  effect.  His  own  party  went  over  entirely 
to  Fox,  whose  sympathies  were  with  the  Revolu- 
tion.    This  led  to  the  dramatic  scene  in  the  House 

*  Green,  Short  History  of  the  English  People,  p.  421. 


28  The  French  Revolution 

which  ended  the  long  personal  friendship  between 
the  two  Whig  leaders.  Events  soon  brought 
public  opinion  to  Burke's  side  again,  as  we  have 
seen;  his  Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in  France 
became  one  of  the  most  popular  books  of  the  time. 

The  reaction  against  Revolutionism  was  so 
violent  that  all  chance  of  parliamentary  reform 
was  lost  for  several  decades  to  come.  In  1809 
Sir  Francis  Burdett  ventured  to  touch  upon  the 
forbidden  question.  Only  fifteen  members  sup- 
ported his  bill.  When  a  little  later  he  published 
it  in  pamphlet  form  he  was  promptly  committed 
to  the  Tower.  This  ended  the  discussion  of 
representative  reform  by  Parliament  until  the 
period  of  reaction  was  past. 

Meanwhile,  the  nation  as  a  whole  was  by  no 
means  so  indifferent  to  the  question  of  Represen- 
tation as  their  representatives  seemed  to  be.  On 
the  eve  of  the  Revolution  there  had  been  started 
a  Society  for  Constitutional  Information, '  which 
distributed  pamphlets  and  drew  up  a  program 
"which  included  such  advanced  demands  as  uni- 
versal suffrage,  equal  electoral  districts,  abolition 
of  property  qualifications  for  members  of  the 
Commons,  payment  of  members,  and  vote  by 
ballot  at  parliamentary  elections."^  During  the 
Revolutionary   enthusiasm  of    1790  innumerable 

'  To  which,  incidentally,  most  of  our  Revolutionary  novelists 
belonged.  This  was  the  society  against  whom  the  Reflections  of 
Burke  was  particularly  directed. 

'  Ogg,  Social  Progress  in  Contemporary  Europe,  p.  126. 


And  the  English  Novel  29 

Jacobin  clubs  sprang  up  all  over  the  country, 
which  distributed  literature,  discussed  the  most 
radical  reforms,  and  incidentally  did  all  they  could 
to  prepare  the  country  for  a  Revolution  after  the 
model  of  France.  But  in  1794  ^^e  government 
had  a  nervous  attack  resulting  in  a  fit  of  persecu- 
tion. All  these  noisy  little  clubs,  together  with 
some  that  were  more  worthy,  were  suppressed 
with  a  high  hand.  After  this  miniature  conser- 
vative Reign  of  Terror  we  hear  no  more  of  the 
English  Jacobins.  ^ 

During  the  Napoleonic  wars  the  public  mind 
was  sufficiently  occupied  with  the  national  danger ; 
and  agitation  for  parliamentary  reform  virtually 
ceased.  After  1815,  however,  the  popular  demand 
for  reforms  broke  out  again  in  full  force,  and  again 
the  government  began  its  campaign  of  suppression. 
"The  habeas  corpus  act,"  says  Dr.  Ogg,  "was 
suspended  until  it  became  almost  a  nullity." 
The  climax  was  reached  in  the  "Peterloo  Mas- 
sacre" of  1 8 19,  when  a  peaceable  gathering  as- 
sembled in  St.  Peter's  Field,  Manchester,  to  discuss 
questions  of  parliamentary  reform,  was  attacked 
by  a  troop  of  cavalry  and  several  persons  were 
killed.  This  was  followed  in  the  same  year  by 
the  infamous  Six  Acts,  "Whereby  public  meet- 
ings for  the  considerations  of  grievances  was  pro- 
hibited." 

This  marked  the  turning  point  of  the  Reaction. 
After  1820  reform  legislation  began  to  be  forced 

^  Cf.  account  of  the  trial  of  Holcroft,  in  Chapter  III. 


30  The  French  Revolution 

by  public  opinion.  The  nation  took  up  the  ques- 
tion of  adapting  its  laws  and  government  to 
changing  conditions  where  it  had  been  dropped  in 
1792.  The  influence  of  the  French  Revolution 
both  as  a  stimulus  and  as  a  check  to  progress  may 
be  said  to  have  come  to  an  end. 

SECTION   2 :   THE  BACKGROUND  OF  IDEAS 

To  give  anything  like  an  adequate  account  of 
even  one  of  the  currents  of  thought  that  were 
stirring  the  public  mind  in  England  previous  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  French  Revolution  would  require 
a  volume  in  itself.  To  cover  the  whole  field  even 
superficially  is  of  course  impossible.  What  is 
attempted  here  is  in  the  nature  of  an  enumeration 
of  headings,  indicating  the  basis  for  a  few  gen- 
eralizations. 

There  is  a  tendency  in  most  brief  accounts  of 
the  literature  of  this  period  to  speak  of  the  group 
of  ideas  which  we  may  include  under  the  title 
Revolutionism,  as  having  come  into  England  with 
the  writings  of  Rousseau  and  the  Encyclopaedists, 
and  gained  a  brief  vogue  through  the  popularity 
of  the  French  Revolution  in  its  early  stages.  This 
is  not  an  altogether  adequate  statement  of  the 
case.  To  supplement  it,  however,  we  must  go 
back  some  distance,  to  the  political  philosophies 
of  the  preceding  century  in  England.  It  is 
Chesterton,  I  think,  who  observes  that  all  accounts 


And  the  English  Novel  31 

shotild  begin:  "In  the  beginning  God  created 
Heaven  and  Earth."  That  is  partictilarly  true 
of  all  accounts  of  the  historical  development  of 
ideas.  But  we  shall  be  making  in  all  conscience  a 
sufficient  deviation  from  the  usual  chronology  if 
we  take  for  our  genesis  the  Puritan  Revolution 
instead  of  Rousseau. 

Previous  to  the  Reformation  in  England  the 
world  of  political  philosophy  was  a  very  simple 
and  orderly  one.  State  and  Church  alike  were 
established  upon  a  principle  of  unquestioned 
authority.  From  serf  to  emperor,  from  friar  to 
pope,  every  one  had  his  foreordained  place  in  the 
scheme  of  things,  and  his  recognized  superior  to 
whom  he  owed  deference  and  from  whom  he 
received  guidance  and  protection.  The  keystone 
of  the  whole  social  and  ecclesiastical  structure 
was  a  revealed  religion  which  included  the  divine 
right  of  kings.  The  recognition  of  the  subordina- 
tion of  the  individual  to  an  authority  external  to 
himself  penetrated  every  branch  of  human  thought 
and  activity. 

The  Reformation  did  not  change  this  concep- 
tion fundamentally.  It  was  at  first  merely  an 
attempt  to  clear  away  certain  deviations  from  the 
original  revelation.  This  was  especially  true  of 
the  Anglican  Church.  So  that  we  may  consider 
the  age  of  absolute  authority  in  England  as 
continuing  to  the  time  of  the  Stuarts. 

The   old   order   had   made   for   discipline   and 


32  The  French  Revolution 

civilization  in  the  ages  of  violence,  but  it  was 
inelastic.  As  the  middle  classes,  the  merchants 
and  producers,  increased  in  power  they  began  to 
find  their  subordinate  place  in  the  established 
system  somewhat  irksome.  In  the  early  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century  we  find  such  writers 
as  Buchanan,  Althusius,  and  Mariana  advancing 
antimonarchic  theories.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
three  significant  doctrines  appeared  in  English 
political  controversies:  a  pre-political  state  of 
nature,  the  contractual  origin  of  society,  and  the 
sovereignty  of  the  people.  These,  it  will  be  ob- 
served, involve  a  fundamentally  different  basis 
of  thought;  government  derives  its  authority 
from  man,  instead  of  from  God.  Changes,  then, 
even  the  most  radical,  may  be  inexpedient,  but 
cannot  be  sacrilegious. 

This  changed  concept  gained  wide  acceptance, 
often  where  its  full  import  was  not  perceived. 
Grotius  was  affected  by  it;  his  contribution  to 
political  thought  was  a  formulation  of  the  rights 
between  nations  no  longer  held  together  by  the 
great  bond  of  unity  under  the  Church.  His 
great  work,  De  Jure  Belli  et  Pacts,  appeared  in 
1625,  the  year  Charles  I.  came  to  the  English 
throne;  which  brings  us  to  the  eve  of  the  Puritan 
Revolution. 

Under  the  Commonwealth  there  were  two  parties 
opposing  the  old  doctrine  of  the  divine  right, 
representing  two  entirely  distinct  interpretations 
of  the  new  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 


And  the  English  Novel  33 

(i)  The  prevailing  conception,  represented  in 
Parliament  chiefly  by  the  Presbyterians,  and 
later  by  Cromwell,  recognized  the  people  in  their 
collective  capacity  as  competent  to  choose  the 
rulers  to  whom  they  will  submit.  (2)  The  extreme 
individualistic  conception,  represented  by  the 
Independents  and  Levellers,  demanded  universal 
suffrage,  absolute  freedom  of  speech  and  opinion, 
and  a  government  perpetually  subject  to  popular 
control.  It  is  in  this  early  democratic  individu- 
alism that  we  have  the  true  genesis  of  Revolu- 
tionism in  England.  A  contemporary  writes  of 
this  party  in  terms  that  suggesti  Burke  on  the 
French  Revolution: 

Though  the  lawes  and  customes  of  the  kingdom  be 
never  so  plain  and  cleer  against  their  wayes,  yet  they 
will  not  submit  but  cry  out  for  naturall  rights  derived 
from  Adam  and  right  reason.  ^ 

The  doctrines  of  the  Levellers  were  embodied 
in  the  "Agreement  of  the  People,"  framed  by  the 
council  of  the  army  in  1647.  This  provided  for 
ratification  by  the  signatures  of  every  individual 
Englishman,  and  granted  to  the  government  only 
a  delegated  authority,  subject  always  to  popular 
recall.  Parliament,  however,  fell  into  the  hands 
of  Cromwell,  who  had  small  regard  for  the  Level- 
lers and  their  doctrines.  The  Revolution  was 
carried    through    by    the    Rump,    under    furious 

'  Dunning,  Political  Theories,  p.  236. 


34  The  French  Revolution 

protests  from  Lilbume  and  other  Independent 
writers.  Democratic  individualism  disappeared 
from  among  the  doctrines  of  EngHsh  practical 
politics  for  more  than  a  century. 

Among  the  political  writers  of  the  latter  seven- 
teenth century  the  issue  is  between  authority  by 
divine  right  and  authority  derived  from  the  people, 
not,  be  it  observed,  between  the  principles  of 
authority  and  individualism.  "Milton  never 
favoured  universal  suffrage  and  the  rule  of  the 
numerical  majority,"  says  Dunning,  "  'Liberty 
for  all  and  authority  for  such  as  were  capable' 
was  his  creed."'  Harrington  was  even  less  radi- 
cal; he  would  rest  the  supreme  authority  with 
those  who  own  most  of  the  property  of  the  com- 
munity. Algernon  Sydney  was  essentially  an 
aristocrat,  modified  by  the  republicanism  of 
classical  antiquity.  He  held  that  authority  must 
rest  upon  consent,  but  his  dislike  for  democracy 
was  manifest. 

The  leading  philosophical  opponents  to  these 
so-called  republicans  were  Filmer  and  Hobbes. 
Filmer's  Patriarchia"^  takes  the  extreme  stand  for 
divine  right,  regarding  the  state  as  essentially  a 
family,  with  the  king  in  undisputed  paternal 
supremacy   over   all    subjects.     Hobbes,    on   the 

'  Dunning,  Political  Theories,  p.  247. 

'  The  Patriarchia  was  not  published  until  1 680.  The  exact 
date  of  writing  is  difficult  to  determine;  but  Filmer  died  in  1653 
and  this  was  probably  written  some  years  before  the  time  of  his 
death,  so  that  it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  Patriarchia  antedates 
Hobbes's  Leviathan. 


And  the  English  Novel  35 

other  hand,  is  in  the  curious  position  of  attempting 
to  justify  the  old  conception  with  arguments 
derived  from  the  new.  His  rationahsm  was 
extreme.  He  begins  with  a  state  of  nature,  bellum 
omnium  contra  omnes,  in  which  man  is  antisocial, 
governed  entirely  by  passions  and  instincts,  with 
no  distinction  of  right  and  wrong.  Natural  right 
is  the  right  of  every  man  to  do  that  which  is  ne- 
cessary for  the  preservation  of  his  existence. 
Natural  laws  are  the  rules  determined  by  reason 
as  being  necessary  to  self-preservation.  These 
are  three:  (i)  to  seek  peace  and  preserve  it,  (2)  to 
abandon  natural  liberty  in  order  to  seciu^e  peace, 
and  (3)  to  keep  covenants  made.  Hobbes  thus 
arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  in  order  to  escape 
from  the  anarchic  wars  of  the  state  of  nature,  men 
are  forced  to  resign  their  liberty  to  a  sovereign 
power.  This  is  not  a  contract,  for  the  sovereign 
promises  nothing,  the  only  agreement  being  among 
the  subjects,  who  have  surrendered  their  liberty 
by  common  consent.  Starting  with  the  individual 
bound  only  by  self-interest,  Hobbes  leaves  him 
with  no  rights  whatever  against  the  state  which 
his  self-interest  has  forced  him  to  constitute.  ^ 

In  the  long  run,  however,  Hobbes's  philosophy 
worked  against  rather  than  for  the  absolute 
monarchy  which  he  intended  it  to  support.  He 
had  made  too  many  dangerous  admissions.  Sub- 
sequent thinkers  might  accept  his  premises,  but 
they  drew  their  own  conclusions. 

'  Hobbes,  Leviathan,  1651. 


36  The  French  Revolution 

In  the  Restoration  the  doctrine  of  divine  right 
in  its  most  extreme  form  enjoyed  a  brief  triumph ; 
one  of  the  significant  features  of  which  was  the 
firm  aUiance  between  Church  and  king.  Every 
effort  of  the  Whigs  to  hberaHze  existing  institu- 
tions was  met  by  the  obstinate  resistance  of  the 
churchmen.  Even  Hobbes's  rationahzation  of 
the  obscurantist  doctrine  was  condemned.  Dur- 
ing this  period  the  dissenting  bodies  among  whom 
the  doctrines  of  individuahsm  had  flourished  were 
thoroughly  subdued.  Henceforth  their  only  polit- 
ical endeavours  lay  along  the  lines  of  securing 
for  themselves  religious  toleration. 

In  the  Revolution  of  1688  it  was  the  doctrine 
of  modified  authority  that  triumphed.  The  op- 
position to  the  last  two  Stuart  kings  was  led  by 
men  of  rank  and  property,  having  no  affinity 
whatever  with  the  Levellers  and  Republicans  of 
the  earlier  Rebellion.  The  Whig  Revolution 
found  its  complete  philosophical  expression  in  the 
writings  of  John  Locke  (i  632-1 704).  Locke 
began  as  Hobbes  did,  with  a  hypothetical  state 
of  nature.  But  he  rejected  Hobbes's  conception 
of  the  state  of  universal  war.  His  state  of  nature 
is  social,  though  not  political;  equality,  governed 
by  reason  and  natural  law.  Even  property 
rights  were  respected  in  such  a  state,  as  being 
based  upon  each  man's  right  to  his  own  labour, 
and  consequently  to  those  things  to  which  he  has 
added  his  labour.  The  state  of  nature  is  termi- 
nated by  a  social  contract,  by  which  men  give  up 


And  the  English  Novel  37 

their  right  of  executing  laws  and  punishing  of- 
fences in  exchange  for  protection  for  Hfe  and 
property.  But  the  power  of  the  sovereign  is 
hmited  still  by  the  natural  rights  retained  by  the 
individual. 

All  this  adds  nothing  to  the  discussion  which 
was  not  involved  in  the  conceptions  of  previous 
philosophers;  it  is  merely  a  clear  formulation  of 
the  position  adopted  by  the  leaders  in  the  Whig 
Revolution.  The  Lockian  ideas  found  popular 
expression  in  the  writings  of  Bolingbroke  and 
others. 

The  next  philospher  to  make  any  real  contri- 
bution to  political  theory  was  David  Hume  (171 1- 
1776).  Although  a  Whig  himself,  Hume  did 
more  perhaps  than  any  other  writer  to  undermine 
the  comfortably  complete  philosophy  of  modified 
authority  which  Locke  had  made  appear  so 
reasonable  and  the  Whigs  had  accepted  so  com- 
placently for  nearly  half  a  century.  Hume  adopted 
Hobbes's  view  of  human  nature,  and  a  consistently 
utilitarian  system  of  ethics.  He  rejected  abso- 
lutely the  contract  theory  as  a  justification  for 
government. 

If  the  reason  be  asked  [says  Hume],  of  that  obedi- 
ence which  we  are  bound  to  pay  to  government,  I 
readily  answer,  "  Because  society  could  not  otherwise 
subsist : '  *  And  this  answer  is  clear  and  intelligible  to  all 
mankind.  Your  answer  is,  "Because  we  should  keep 
our  word.  "  But  besides,  that  nobody,  till  trained  in  a 
philosophical  system,  can  either  comprehend  or  relish 


38  The  French  Revolution 

this  answer:  Besides  this,  I  say,  3^011  find  yourself 
embarrassed,  when  it  is  asked,  why  we  are  bound  to 
keep  our  word?  Nor  can  you  give  any  answer,  but 
what  would,  immediately,  without  any  circuit,  have 
accounted  for  our  obligation  to  allegiance.^ 

This  brings  our  discussion  of  political  theory- 
down  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
to  the  beginning  of  the  French  influence.  To  sum 
up  the  situation  so  far:  the  old  conception  of  an 
absolute  authority  of  divine  origin  has  given 
place  to  the  conception  of  a  modified  authority 
derived  from  the  people  in  their  collective  capacity, 
and  rendered  morally  binding  by  a  social  contract. 
The  doctrine  of  democratic  individualism  has 
appeared  and  been  for  a  time  supported  by  a 
considerable  party  among  the  dissenters;  but 
since  its  defeat  in  1647  it  has  ceased  to  be  a  factor 
in  the  dominant  political  philosophies  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Finally,  the  accepted  Whig 
basis  of  authority  has  already  been  attacked  by 
the  utilitarian  scepticism  of  Hume. 

Before  we  take  up  the  French  philosophers 
influencing  Revolutionism,  however,  there  re- 
mains another  aspect  of  English  thought  which 
must  be  considered:  the  religious  philosophies. 
We  have  observed  how  close  was  the  connection 
between  the  doctrine  of  divine  right  in  government 
and    the    Chiirch    of    absolute    authority.     The 

'  Hume,  Essays,  Moral,  Political,  and  Literary  (1741-42). 
(Ed.  London,  1882.    Vol.  i.,  p.  455-56.) 


And  the  English  Novel  39 

Established  Church  and  the  Whig  government 
maintain  a  like  similarity.  The  principle  of 
authority  remained,  but  it  was  a  rationalized 
authority.  Revelation  was  justified  by  reason.^ 
But  this  common-sense  faith  did  not  succeed  in 
dominating  the  religious  thought  of  the  time  quite 
so  completely  as  the  common-sense  government 
did  the  political  thought.  An  increasing  group 
of  churchmen  were  dissatisfied  with  a  faith  in 
revelation  made  perfectly  rational.  What  need, 
they  began  to  ask,  of  any  revelation  at  all?  Natu- 
ral religion  and  Deism,  influenced  by  the  empiri- 
cism of  Locke,  made  rapid  headway.  In  the 
hands  of  writers  like  Shaftesbury,  Bolingbroke, 
Toland,  Tindal,  and  a  host  of  others  the  Deist 
controversy  became  a  thing  to  be  reckoned  with 
by  orthodox  theologians. 

Meanwhile,  the  Establishment,  not  rational 
enough  to  satisfy  the  Deists,  had  grown  too  ra- 
tional, it  seemed,  for  a  very  large  group  of  people 
who  demanded  of  religion  something  more  than 
a  system  of  ethics.  The  Wesley  an  movement, 
begun  as  a  reform  within  the  Church,  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  a  new  sect  of  dissenters. 
Methodism  was  primarily  a  reaction  against  a 
narrow  rationalism  that  was  limiting  and  over- 
defining  the  religious  life.  But  the  ultimate 
philosophy  of  the  movement  involved  a  complete 
break  with  the  principle  of  authority  in  the  name 
of  religious  Individualism.     Dr.   M'Giffert  says 

'  C/.,  for  example,  the  sermons  of  Tillotson  and  Barrow, 


40  The  French  Revolution 

of  Methodism:  "It  meant  a  transfer  of  emphasis 
from  the  Church  as  an  institution  to  the  personal 
religious  experience  of  the  individual  Christian."' 
That  is,  the  cardinal  fact  in  religion  was  taken  to 
be,  not  a  generally  authoritative  revelation  em- 
bodied in  an  institution,  but  an  emotional  crisis 
in  the  life  of  each  individual  which  he  took  to  be 
a  direct  and  personal  revelation.  This  was  an 
assertion  of  the  rights  of  individual  feeling,  as 
Deism  may  be  said  to  be  an  assertion  of  the  right 
of  individual  judgment.  Such  were  the  main 
currents  of  thought  during  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  This  brings  us  up  to  the 
beginning  of  the  French  influence,  which  is  usually 
identified  with  the  English  philosophy  of  Revolu- 
tionism. But  be  it  observed,  not  one  element  of 
''  importance  came  into  English  radical  thought 
through  Rousseau  and  the  Encyclopaedists  which 
was  not  there  already.  The  main  doctrines  of  the 
Revolution  had  been  familiar  to  English  philo- 
sophers since  the  time  of  Cromwell  at  least.  But 
the  issue  between  Authority  and  Individualism 
had  become  somewhat  obscured.  Authority,  in 
Church  and  State,  was  rationalized,  and  Indi- 
vidualism, forced  out  of  practical  politics,  was 
manifesting  itself  chiefly  in  the  religious  world, 
and  in  sceptical  philosophies.  ^ 

'  M'Giffert,  Protestant  Thought  Before  Kant,  p.  163. 

'  The  French  philosophers  whose  writings  gained  the  greatest 
vogue  in  England  were  Voltaire  and  the  Encyclopaedists,  Rous- 
seau, Holbach,  and  Helvetius.  As  these  are  discussed  in  some 
detail  by  Dr.  Hancock,  we  need  do  no  more  than  mention  them 


And  the  English  Novel  41 

All  this  is  in  no  way  intended  to  minimize  the 
part  the  French  philosophers  had  in  stimulating 
English  Revolutionism.  If  they  introduced  no 
new  concepts  into  English  thought,  they  restated 
the  old  ones  with  genius.  Rousseau  especially^ 
exerted  an  influence  in  England  which  it  would 
be  hard  to  overestimate.  Never  had  the  doctrines 
of  Sentimental  Individualism  been  so  alluringly 
presented.  The  state  of  nature  previous  to  the 
social  contract,  which  was  to  Hobbes  a  state  of 
war  and  misery,  and  to  Locke  a  state  of  mere 
negative  excellence,  became  in  Rousseau's  hands 
the  earthly  paradise.  Deism,  which  not  even  the 
enthusiasm  of  Shaftesbury  could  make  more  than 
a  somewhat  chilly  hypothesis,  became  a  real  faith 
as  interpreted  by  the  Savoyard  Vicar.  The  belief 
that  feeling  in  itself  constitutes  virtue  was  carried 
to  its  logical  conclusion  by  this  arch  Sentimental- 
ist. Julie,  St.  Preux,  Emile,  Sophie,  and  the 
Rousseau  of  the  Confessions  became  living  ideals 
in  the  minds  of  Englishmen  who  would  never 
have  thought  of  reading  a  metaphysical  discussion 
of  the  philosophy  of  feeling. 

But  the  true  reason  for  connecting  the  movement 
in  England,  which  we  are  discussing,  with  the 
French  Revolution  does  not  lie  in  the  stimulus 
which  it  undoubtedly  received  from  French 
writers.     It  was  the  events  of  the  year  1789  that 

here.  But  it  may  be  added,  if  these  influenced  English  thought, 
they  had  themselves  been  previously  influenced  by  English 
thought. 


42  The  French  Revolution 

removed  Revolutionism  from  the  realm  of  purely 
speculative  philosophy  to  that  of  active  political 
propaganda,  for  the  first  time  since  the  Common- 
wealth. 

In  England  there  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  grow- 
ing social  imrest  due  primarily  to  economic  causes. 
Philosophies  of  change  and  revolution  were  al- 
ready familiar  to  the  English  mind.  The  fall  of 
the  Bastille  was  symbolic.  It  was  a  tocsin  call 
at  whose  sound  the  older  democratic  individu- 
alism, which  had  not  appeared  in  practical  poli- 
tics since  its  defeat  in  1647,  awoke  and  became 
a  force  to  be  reckoned  with  by  conservative 
statesmen. 

The  situation  in  England  was,  as  we  have 
observed,  extremely  complex.  Issues  were  not 
so  clear  as  those  in  France.  A  century  of  ration- 
alizing and  sentimentalizing  on  both  sides  had 
obscured  the  ancient  conflict  between  Authority 
and  Individualism.  But,  as  in  the  days  of  Inde- 
pendents and  Levellers,  it  was  among  the  dissent- 
ing sects  that  individualism  as  a  political  principle 
found  its  readiest  acceptance.  The  intellectual 
affinity  between  dissent  and  Revolutionism  was 
perhaps  emphasized  by  the  discontent  arising 
from  the  legal  disabilities  still  attached  to  non- 
conformity. 

The  Revolutionists  in  England  were  at  no 
time  a  large  or  powerful  group,  although  the  ex- 
ample afforded  them  by  France  and  the  preva- 
lence of  social  unrest  gave  the  government  some 


And  the  English  Novel  43 

cause  to  fear  that  their  doctrines  might  spread 
and  ultimately  result  in  the  overthrow  of  the 
monarchy. 

The  most  important  among  the  Revolutionists, 
fortunately  for  our  discussion,  used  the  novel  as  a 
vehicle  for  their  propaganda.  There  are  a  few, 
however,  who  wrote  no  novels,  but  whom  we  must 
mention  for  the  sake  of  completeness.  Dr.  Price, 
a  dissenting  preacher,  and  Joseph  Priestley,  a 
philosophical  writer  of  the  school  of  Locke,  were 
among  the  earliest  if  not  the  most  radical  of  the 
Revolutionists.  ' *  In  their  writings, ' '  says  Sir  Leslie 
Stephen,  "we  catch  for  the  first  time  the  true 
Revolutionary  tone."^  They  are,  however,  im- 
portant chiefly  as  they  influenced  more  prominent 
men. 

Thomas  Paine  possessed  the  merit  of  populariz- 
ing the  doctrines  of  more  intellectual  men  than 
himself.  It  was  Paine,  not  Godwin,  nor  even 
Rousseau,  whose  works  were  printed  in  cheap 
form  and  read  by  Jacobin  clubs  of  discontented 
workingmen.  The  Rights  of  Man  had  hundreds 
of  readers  where  Political  Justice  had  one.  In  the 
type  of  audiences  which  Paine  found,  ideas  linger. 
Curiously  enough,  Paine 's  crude  but  vigorous 
denunciations  of  priesthood  and  tyranny  still 
find  readers  in  certain  circles. 

Among  the  opponents  of  Revolutionism  two 
deserve  especial  mention.     Burke's  writings  are 

^*  Leslie  Stephen,  English  Thought  in  the  Eighteenth   Century, 
vol.  ii.,  p.  252. 


44  The  French  Revolution 

too  well  known  to  require  discussion  here.  But 
perhaps  the  answer  to  Revolutionism  which  most 
influenced  thought  in  the  following  century  was 
not  Burke's  Reflections,  but  the  theory  of  popu- 
lation advanced  by  Malthus.  He  perceived  the 
absurdity  of  the  theories  on  which  Godwin's 
belief  in  the  perfectibility  of  man  and  the  speedy 
coming  of  an  age  of  peace  were  founded.  The 
objections  which  he  raised,  that  in  such  an  event 
the  population  would  outgrow  the  food  supply 
and  civilization  be  overthrown  by  the  mere  strug- 
gle for  existence,  continued  to  trouble  social 
idealists  as  late,  certainly,  as  the  date  of  Tenny- 
son's second  Locksley  Hall,  in  spite  of  the  floods 
of  "answers"  to  Malthus  which  were  written 
from  almost  every  conceivable  standpoint.  Per- 
haps it  was  too  sound  Darwinism  to  be  answered 
except  by  facts. 

Perhaps  before  we  turn  to  the  novels,  it  may 
be  well  to  quote  in  extenso  a  concise  and  admirably 
critical  statement  of  the  Revolutionary  philosophy 
by  a  younger  contemporary  of  the  novelists  whom 
we  are  considering.  William  Hazlitt  was  not 
only  acquainted  with  that  point  of  view  as  it 
appeared  in  books,  but  had  the  advantage  of 
knowing  the  authors  personally,  and  hearing  their 
informal  discussions  of  the  questions  involved. 
His  own  attitude  is  not  unsympathetic,  although 
he  is  writing  during  the  last  decade  of  the  Reaction. 
This  summary  of  the  leading  doctrines  of  Revolu- 


And  the  English  Novel  45 

tionism  may  furnish  a  good  point  of  departure 
for  our  discussion  of  its  variations  at  the  hands 
of  individual  writers. 

The  opinion  of  the  power  of  truth  to  crush  error 
had  been  gaining  ground  in  this  country  ever  since 
the  Reformation;  the  immense  improvements  in 
natural  and  mechanical  knowledge  within  the  last 
century  had  made  it  appear  nearly  impossible  to 
limit  the  discoveries  of  art  and  science;  as  great  a 
revolution  (and  it  was  generally  supposed  as  great 
improvements)  had  taken  place  in  the  theory  of  the 
human  mind  in  consequence  of  Mr.  Locke's  Essay; 
and  men's  attention  having  been  lately  forcibly  called 
to  many  of  the  evils  and  abuses  existing  in  society  ,/it 
seemed  as  if  the  present  was  the  era  of  moral  and  polit- 
ical improvement,  and  that  as  bold  discoveries  and  as 
large  advances  towards  perfection  would  shortly  be 
made  in  these,  as  had  been  made  in  other  subjects. 
That  this  inference  was  profound  or  just,  I  do  not 
affirm,  but  it  was  natural,  and  strengthened  not  only 
by  the  hopes  of  the  good,  but  by  the  sentiments  of  the 
most  thinking  men. 

As  far  as  any  practical  experiment  had  been  tried, 
the  restdt  was  not  discouraging.  Of  two  revolutions 
that  had  taken  place,  one,  that  of  America,  had  suc- 
ceeded, and  a  more  free  and  equal  government  had 
been  established,  without  tumult,  civil  discord,  ani- 
mosity, or  bloodshed,  except  what  had  arisen  from  the 
interference  of  the  mother  country.  The  other  Revo- 
lution, that  of  France,  was  but  begun:  but  it  had  at 
that  time  displayed  none  of  those  alarming  features 
which  it  afterwards  discovered.   •  •  •  .  The  pillars  of 


46  The  French  Revolution 

oppression  and  tyranny  seemed  to  have  been  over- 
thrown :  man  was  about  to  shake  off  the  fetters  which 
had  bound  him  in  wretchedness  and  ignorance;  and 
the  blessings  that  were  yet  in  store  for  him  were  unseen 
and  incalculable.  Hope  smiled  upon  him,  and  pointed 
to  futurity."^ 

With  these  feelings  and  with  these  encouragements, 
from  the  state  of  the  public  mind,  reasoning  men 
began  to  inquire  what  would  be  the  ruling  principles 
/  of  action  in  a  state  of  society  as  perfect  as  we  can 
suppose,  or  the  general  diffusion  of  which  would 
soonest  lead  to  such  a  state  of  improvement. 


In  such  a  state  of  things  (men)  believed  that  wars, 
bloodshed  and  national  animosities  would  cease;  that 
peace  and  good- will  woiild  reign  among  men;  and 
that  the  feeling  of  patriotism,  necessary  as  it  now  is  to 
preserve  the  independence  of  states,  woiild  die  away 
of  itself  with  national  jealousies  and  antipathies,  with 
ambition,  war  and  foreign  conquest.  Family  attach- 
ments would  also  be  weakened  or  lost  in  the  general 
principle  of  benevolence,  when  every  man  would  be  a 
brother.  Exclusive  friendships  could  no  longer  be 
formed,  because  they  would  interfere  with  the  true 
claims  of  justice  and  humanity,  and  because  it  would 
be  no  longer  necessary  to  keep  alive  the  stream  of  the 
affections  by  confining  them  to  a  particular  channel, 
when  they  would  be  continually  refreshed,  invigorated, 
and  would  overflow  with  the  diffusive  soul  of  mutual 
philanthropy  and  generous,  undivided  sympathy  with 
all  men.  Gratitude  to  benefactors  would  be  forgotten ; 
but  not  from  a  hateful,  selfish  spirit,  or  hardened 


And  the  English  Novel  47 

insensibility  to  kind  offices ;  but  because  all  men  would 
in  fact  be  equally  ready  to  promote  one  another's 
welfare,  that  is,  equally  benefactors  and  friends  to 
each  other  without  motives,  either  of  gratitude  or  of 
self-interest.  Promises,  in  like  manner  would  be  no 
longer  binding  or  necessary .  False  honour ,  false  shame , 
vanity,  emulation,  and  so  forth,  would  upon  the  same 
principle  give  way  to  other  and  better  motives.  It  is 
evident  that  laws  and  punishments  would  cease  with 
the  cause  that  produces  them,  the  commission  of  crimes. 
Neither  would  the  distinctions  of  property  subsist  in  a 
society  where  the  interests  and  feelings  of  all  would  be 
more  intimately  blended  than  they  are  at  present  among 
members  of  the  same  family,  or  among  the  dearest 
friends.  Neither  the  allurements  of  ease  or  wealth,  nor 
the  dread  of  punishment  would  be  required  to  incite  to 
industry,  or  to  prevent  fraud  or  violence,  in  a  state 
where  all  would  cheerfully  labour  for  the  good  of  all ; 
and  where  the  most  refined  reason  and  inflexible  jus- 
tice actuated  the  whole  community.  The  labour, 
therefore,  requisite  to  produce  the  necessaries  of  life, 
would  be  equally  divided  among  the  members  of 
such  a  community,  and  the  remainder  of  their  time 
would  be  spent  in  the  pursuit  of  science,  in  the  culti- 
vation of  the  noblest  arts,  and  in  the  most  refined  and 
.intellectual  enjoyments. 

However  wild  and  visionary  this  scheme  may  ap- 
pear, it  is  certain  that  its  greatest  fault  is  in  expecting 
higher  things  of  human  nature  than  it  seems  at 
present  capable  of,  and  in  exacting  such  a  divine  or 
angelic  degree  of  virtue  and  wisdom,  before  it  can  be 
put  in  practice,  as  without  a  miracle  in  its  favour 
must  for  ever  prevent  its  becoming  anything  more 


48  The  English  Novel 

than  a  harmless  dream,  a  sport  of  the  imagination,  or 
an  exercise  of  the  schools.  * 

'  Hazlitt,  Memoirs  of  Holcroft  (1816),  vol.  ii.,  pp.  123-33. 

Note. — We  shall  have  occasion  to  use  the  term  Sentimentalism 
rather  frequently  in  the  course  of  our  discussion.  As  this  is  one  of 
the  critical  terms  which  each  writer  uses,  apparently,  with  a  slightly 
different  shade  of  meaning,  it  may  be  well  to  define  the  sense  in 
which  we  shall  use  it  here.  Sentimentalism  is  that  view  of  life, 
and  incidentally,  that  view  of  art,  which  regards  feeling  as  an  end 
in  itself.  Sentimentalism  is  not  a  matter  of  degree  of  emotion, 
or  even  of  quality  of  emotion;  it  depends  entirely  upon  one's 
attitude  towards  one's  own  emotional  experiences.  One  may 
value  feeling  very  highly  as  a  stimulus  to  fine  action,  or  for  the 
powers  of  insight  and  imagination  which  intense  emotion  some- 
times releases,  without  being  in  the  least  a  Sentimentalist.  The 
Sentimentalist  is  interested  in  his  emotional  reactions  quite  apart 
from  their  cause  or  their  result.  Feeling  for  him  has  ceased  to  be 
a  means  or  a  by-product,  and  becomes  the  central  fact  of  his 
existence.  When  he  feels  virtuously,  that  for  him  constitutes 
virtue. 


CHAPTER  II 
A  REPRESENTATIVE  REVOLUTIONIST 

THOMAS  HOLCROFT 

THE  fact  that  we  are  considering  Revolution- 
ism through  the  medium  of  the  novel  gives 
us  one  distinct  advantage  over  more  general 
treatments.  We  are  entitled  to  give  the  first 
place  in  our  discussion  to  the  unfortunately  little 
known  Thomas  Holcroft  rather  than  to  the  usually 
somewhat  overemphasized  work  of  Godwin.  This 
arrangement  is  the  more  satisfactory  one,  for 
several  reasons.  It  is  historically  correct.  Hol- 
croft was  the  older  man,  and  decidedly  the  more 
original  and  independent  thinker  of  the  two. 
Godwin  himself  admits  this  and  acknowledged 
his  indebtedness.  Anna  St.  Ives  was  one  of  the 
earliest  and  fullest  popular  expressions  of  the 
Revolutionary  philosophy  in  any  form.  Certainly 
it  is  the  earliest  and  fullest  in  fiction. 

But  more  important  than  chronological  correct- 
ness, Holcroft  is  a  truer  representative  of  Revo- 
lutionary idealism.      The  new    philosophy  as  it 
appears  in  his  novels  is  saner,  kindlier,  and  more 
4  49 


50  The  French  Revolution 

comprehensible  than  are  the  doctrines  of  the 
ex-Calvinist  Godwin.  One  can  better  understand 
the  sudden  fervour  of  devotion  with  which  so  many- 
young  poets  greeted  what  seemed  a  new  evangel. 
Since  we  are  to  listen  in  another  chapter  to  the 
case  against  Revolutionism,  it  is  well  that  we  may 
see  it  first  through  the  medium  of  a  personality 
so  winning  as  that  of  Thomas  Holcroft. 

One  of  the  things  which  Holcroft  always  in- 
tended and  always  delayed  was  the  writing  of  his 
autobiography.  In  the  last  year  of  his  life  he 
actually  began  the  task,  and  in  spite  of  intense 
physical  suffering  managed  to  dictate  the  first 
few  chapters.  The  work  was  completed  after 
his  death,  with  the  aid  of  his  diary  and  letters, 
by  the  friendly  hand  of  William  Hazlitt.  This 
is  a  book  which  tempts  to  quotation;  it  is  one  of 
the  most  vital  of  biographies.  But  it  is  enough 
for  our  purpose  here  to  indicate  in  outline  as 
brief  as  may  be  something  of  the  life  of  this  "ac- 
quitted felon"  (as  his  opponents  called  him),  this 
Revolutionary  dreamer  who  was  forced  into  exile 
for  the  faith  a  generation  earlier  than  Shelley, 

Holcroft  came  naturally  by  his  lifelong  finan- 
cial incapacity;  his  father  before  him  was  one  of 
the  chronically  unsuccessful.  During  Thomas 
Holcroft's  childhood,  he  was  successively  a  shoe- 
maker, groom's  helper,  horse  trader,  and  finally, 
wandering  pedlar.  But  he  was  an  affectionate 
father,  and  gave  his  son  the  best  education  in  his 
power.     Thomas   was   taught   to  read  early;    at 


And  the  English  Novel  51 

the  age  of  four  his  task  was  "eleven  chapters  a 
day  in  the  Old  Testament,"  which  he  supplemented 
on  his  own  account  with  chapmen's  books  of 
adventure,  borrowed  from  a  friendly  'prentice 
lad.  This  was  the  extent  of  his  father's  ability 
in  the  way  of  "book  learning."  But  he  added 
other  lessons  which  the  boy  never  forgot :  to  endure 
hardship  without  complaining,  to  despise  self- 
indulgence  in  all  forms,  to  speak  the  truth,  and 
to  fear  nothing  but  cowardice.  Thomas  had  need 
of  such  lessons,  for  his  childhood  was  not  an  easy 
one.  As  the  family  fortunes  declined  and  both 
father  and  mother  took  to  peddling,  the  little  boy 
trudged  after  them  through  town  and  country, 
often  faint  with  weariness  and  hiinger.  Before 
he  was  nine,  he  tells  us,  he  was  "trusted  with 
business  more  like  an  adult  than  a  child,"  ^  and 
severely  beaten  for  loitering  on  errands.  The 
picture  is  not  all  dark,  however.  There  were 
pleasant  memories  of  sunny  summer  highways, 
and  country  fairs  and  market  days  where  the 
future  comedian  listened  in  rapture  to  the  rude 
jests  of  the  merry-andrew.  Nor  was  the  passion 
for  books  quite  lost.  A  stray  ballad  or  so  was  a 
very  treasure  trove.  But,  he  remarks,  in  naive 
apology  for  his  deficiencies:  "I  had  little  leisure 
or  opportunity  to  acquire  any  knowledge  by 
reading.  I  was  too  much  pressed  by  fatigue, 
hunger,  cold,  and  nakedness."  He  adds:  "There 
was  a  single  instance  in  which  I  travelled  a-foot 

'  Hazlitt,  Memoirs  of  Holer  oft,  vol.  i.,  p.  46. 


52  The  French  Revolution 

thirty  miles  in  one  day.  I  think  this  happened 
before  I  was  ten  years  of  age."^  But  there  is  no 
trace  of  self-pity  in  the  telHng.  Holcroft  never 
sentimentalizes  over  his  forlorn  childhood.  He 
records  it  all  in  a  matter-of-fact  way,  with  evident 
pride  in  his  childish  powers  of  endurance,  and 
loving  respect  for  his  ne'er-do-well  father. 

Soon  after  this,  thanks  to  his  indomitable  cour- 
age and  his  stunted  growth,  yoimg  Holcroft  at- 
tained to  the  summit  of  his  ambitions,  the  position 
of  stable-boy  in  a  racing  stable.  Here  he  was 
entirely  happy.  He  was  not  starved,  not  much 
overworked,  and  (after  he  had  thrashed  all  his 
young  companions)  not  molested  in  his  eager 
pursuit  of  whatever  chances  of  education  might 
fall  in  his  way.  Stray  copies  of  Addison  and 
Swift  opened  new  worlds  to  him.  To  these  were 
added  Bunyan,  and  Baxter's  Saints'  Rest.  Even 
as  a  child  Holcroft  seems  to  have  had  a  strong 
religious  sense;  but  he  was  always  singularly  free 
from  superstition  or  sentimentalism.  Of  this 
early  fondness  for  devotional  books  he  writes 
very  sensibly:  "I  was  truly  well  intentioned,  but 
my  zeal  was  too  ardent  and  liable  to  become  dan- 
gerous." ^  Holcroft  also  found  time  to  learn  some- 
thing of  music,  and  finally  arranged  to  get  a 
little  desultory  schooling  in  off  hours. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  left  the  stables  and  went 
to  London  as  an  apprentice  to  his  father,  who  had 
again  taken  to  shoemaking.     His  apprenticeship 

'  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  50.  'Ibid.,  vol,  i.,  p.  140. 


And  the  English  Novel  53 

was  not  successful,  because  "his  time  was  idled 
away  in  reading, ' '  and  at '  *  spouting  clubs. ' '  At  the 
age  of  twenty,  with  no  prospects  whatever,  he  mar- 
ried very  happily.  Holcroft's  domestic  life  seems 
always  to  have  been  ideal.  After  trying  several 
occupations  he  was  on  the  point  of  enlisting  for  the 
wars  in  despair,  when  a  friend  persuaded  him  to 
join  a  company  of  strolling  actors.  This  was  in  the 
year  1770.  Holcroft  remained  on  the  stage  for 
many  years  thereafter,  acting  chiefly  comedy  parts, 
with  moderate  success.  He  began  to  eke  out  his 
uncertain  income  with  hack  writing,  as  his  family 
responsibilities  increased .  Ultimately  he  withdrew 
from  the  stage,  and  began  to  earn  his  living  en- 
tirely by  his  pen,  writing  novels  and  plays,  and 
translating  from  the  French  and  German. 

Meanwhile  his  passion  for  reading  continued 
unabated.  Hazlitt's  accoimt  of  his  literary  tastes 
is  interesting.  Here,  as  in  everything  else,  Hol- 
croft was  untainted  by  Sentimentalism. 

Pope  always  held  the  highest  place  in  his  esteem 
after  Milton,  Shakespeare,  and  Dryden.  He  used 
often,  in  particular  to  repeat  the  character  of  Atticus, 
which  he  considered  as  the  finest  piece  of  satire  in  the 
language.  Moral  description,  good  sense,  keen  ob- 
servation, and  strong  passion,  are  the  qualities  which 
he  seems  chiefly  to  have  sought  in  poetry.  He  had 
therefore  little  relish  even  for  the  best  of  our  descrip- 
tive poets,  and  often  spoke  with  indifference  approach- 
ing to  contempt  of  Thomson,  Akenside,  and  others.  ^ 

»  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  253. 


54  The  French  Revolution 

In  1789  Holcroft  suffered  the  greatest  grief  of 
his  life,  the  suicide  of  his  only  son,  to  whom  he  was 
devotedly  attached.     Hazlitt  says: 

The  shock  Mr.  Holcroft  received  was  almost  mortal. 
For  three  days  he  could  not  see  his  own  family,  and 
nothing  but  the  love  he  bore  that  family  could  possibly 
have  prevented  him  from  sinking  under  his  affliction. 
He  seldom  went  out  of  his  house  for  a  whole  year 
afterwards,  and  the  impression  was  never  completely 
effaced  from  his  mind.^ 

Possibly  the  best-known  incident  in  Holcroft's 
life  was  his  trial  for  treason,  in  1794.  The  exact 
nature  of  his  political  opinions  we  shall  consider 
in  connection  with  the  novels.  For  the  present 
it  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  Holcroft  was  too  earnest 
and  independent  a  thinker  to  have  remained  en- 
tirely orthodox  in  his  convictions.  In  the  literary 
circles  of  London  he  came  in  contact  with  all 
the  newer  currents  of  thought.  He  became  a 
member  of  the  Society  for  Constitutional  infor- 
mation, and  frequently  attended  their  meetings; 
but  not  altogether  approving  of  their  proceed- 
ings, he  took  little  part  in  the  debates.  The 
views  expressed  in  his  published  works  differ 
somewhat  from  those  held  by  the  majority  of  the 
members;  in  any  case,  they  form  rather  a  system 
of  social  ethics  than  a  political  manifesto.  But 
when  the  tide  of  popular  feeling  turned  against 
France  and  the  Government  became  alarmed  for 

'  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  102. 


And  the  English  Novel  55 

its  own  safety,  there  was  no  limit  to  the  spirit  of 
persecution.  * 

The  Constitutional  Society  had  no  idea  that 
their  obscure,  semi-metaphysical  discussions  could 
possibly  attract  official  attention.  But  rumours 
began  to  be  afloat  that  the  Government  intended 
to  take  action  against  them.  Holcroft  was  utterly 
amazed.  "Surely,"  he  said,  "there  have  been 
practises  of  which  I  am  totally  ignorant,  or  men 
are  running  mad."^  And  after  the  lapse  of  a 
century,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  his  latter  suppo- 
sition was  entirely  correct.  Official  insanity 
reached  its  crisis  when  a  warrant  was  issued  naming 
twelve  members  of  the  society^  on  the  absurd 
charge  of  High  Treason.  A  rumoiir  of  this  war- 
rant got  abroad,  was  contradicted,  began  again, 
and  was  again  contradicted.  Holcroft,  who  was 
on  the  point  of  leaving  town,  changed  his  plans 
at  the  first  report  and  remained  in  London,  lest 
he  might  seem  to  avoid  inquiry.  He  wrote  to 
his  daughter  with  characteristic  firmness : 

The  charge  is  so  false  and  absurd  it  has  not  once 
made  my  heart  beat.  For  my  own  part,  I  feel  no 
enmity  against  those  who  endeavour  thus  to  injure  me ; 
being  persuaded  that  in  this,  as  in  all  other  instances, 
it  is  the  guilt  of  ignorance.     The^^  think  they  are  doing 

'  We  have  already  quoted  (in  Chapter  I.)  Hazlitt's  vivid 
account  of  this  reign  of  unreason. 

*  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  153. 

J  Holcroft,  Home  Tooke,  and  Thomas  Hardy  were  the  best 
known  of  these. 


56  The  French  Revolution 

their  duty:  I  will  continue  to  do  mine,  to  the  very 
utmost  of  my  power;  and  on  that  will  cheerfully  rest 
my  safety.^ 

Without  waiting  for  an  arrest,  Holcroft  surren- 
dered himself  to  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  demand- 
ing to  know  the  charge  against  him;  a  display 
of  dignity  and  fortitude  which  considerably  em- 
barrassed the  authorities,  and  exposed  him  to  the 
sneers  of  the  venial  press.  The  paragraph  in  the 
St.  James  Chronicle  was  typical : 

Mr.  Holcroft,  the  playwright  and  performer,  pretty 
well  known  for  the  democratical  sentiments  which  he 
has  industriously  scattered  through  the  lighter  works 
of  literature,  such  as  plays,  novels,  songs,  etc.,  sur- 
rendered himself  on  Tuesday  at  Clerkwell  Sessions 
House,  requesting  to  know  if  he  was  the  person 
against  whom  the  Grand  Jury  had  found  a  bill  for 
High  Treason.  .  .  .  We  do  not  understand  that 
he  is  in  any  imminent  danger,  and  suppose  from  his 
behaviour  he  has  the  idea  of  obtaining  the  reputation 
of  a  martyr  to  liberty  at  an  easy  rate. 

On  which  Hazlitt  comments  sarcastically : 

What  a  pleasant  kind  of  government  that  must  be, 
which  is  so  fond  of  playing  at  this  mock  tragedy  of 
indictments  for  High  Treason,  that  the  danger  arising 
from  their  prosecution  is  made  a  subject  of  jest  and 
buffoonery  even  by  their  own  creatures.^ 

»  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  157.  '  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  174, 175. 


And  the  English  Novel  57 

The  story  of  the  trials  is  too  well  known  to 
need  repetition.  After  the  acquittal  of  Thomas 
Hardy  and  Home  Tooke,  the  rest  were  dismissed 
without  trial;  which  Holcroft  regarded  as  a  grave 
injustice,  since,  having  been  publicly  accused,  he 
wished  to  be  publicly  heard  in  his  own  defence. 
But  after  examining  the  report  of  the  evidence 
against  him,  one  does  not  wonder  that  the  Govern- 
ment was  not  anxious  to  expose  its  own  imbe- 
cility by  a  public  trial.  Here  is  a  sample  of  the 
evidence  on  which  he  was  indicted : 

Mr.  Holcroft  talked  a  great  deal  about  Peace,  of  his 
being  against  any  violent  or  coercive  means,  that  were 
usually  resorted  to  against  our  fellow  creatures ;  urged 
the  more  powerful  operation  of  Philosophy  and  Reason, 
to  convince  man  of  his  errors;  that  he  would  disarm 
his  greatest  enemy  by  those  means,  and  oppose  his 
fury. — Spoke  also  about  Truth  being  powerful;  and 
gave  advice  to  the  above  effect  to  the  delegates  present 
who  all  seemed  to  agree,  as  no  person  opposed  his 
arguments.  This  conversation  lasted  better  than  an 
hour,  and  we  departed.'  [The  witness  adds:]  Mr. 
Holcroft  was  a  sort  of  natural  Quaker;  but  did  not 
believe  in  the  secret  impulses  of  the  Spirit,  like  the 
Quakers.^ 

Holcroft  published  the  testimony  and  his  de- 
fence immediately  upon  his  acquittal.  But  if  he 
made  the  Government  ridiculous,  the  Government 
was  amply  avenged.     Hereafter  he  was  branded 

'  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  i86,  187. 


58  The  French  Revolution 

everywhere  as  an  "acquitted  felon,"  He  was 
an  object  of  suspicion  to  the  authorities  at  home 
and  abroad,  so  that  passports  were  actually  refused 
him,  on  the  charge  of  being  a  spy.  Most  seri- 
ous of  all  to  a  professional  dramatist,  the  whole 
force  of  popular  prejudices  was  turned  against  his 
plays;  so  that  finally  he  was  forced  to  publish 
under  a  friend's  name  in  order  to  gain  a  hearing. 
For  years  he  was  forced  to  live  abroad  because  of 
the  general  feeling  against  him  in  England.  It 
was  only  at  the  close  of  his  life  that  he  returned 
to  his  own  country,  where  he  died,  in  1809,  sur- 
rounded by  his  children  and  the  friends  of  his 
younger  days. 

It  is  pleasant  to  know  of  such  a  life.  In  all  the 
years  of  struggle  against  poverty,  ill  health,  and 
misfortune  one  finds  no  records  that  one  would 
like  to  forget.  When  critics  declare  that  his 
"Frank  Henley"  and  "Hugh  Trevor"  represent 
an  impossible  nobility  of  character,  we  hesitate, 
remembering  the  stainless  gentleman  who  drew 
them.  All  the  responsibility  of  a  numerous  family 
with  the  added  care  of  his  aged  parents,  never 
forced  him  to  the  mean  and  petty  expediencies  so 
common  among  the  literary  men  who  were  his 
friends.  Coleridge  and  Godwin  thought  the  world 
owed  them  a  living;  and  they  were  not  backward 
in  asking  for  it.  Holcroft's  only  remedies  for  the 
ills  of  poverty  were  self-denial  and  hard  work. 
He  never  begged  or  borrowed.  Looking  at  the 
long  list  of  his  writings,  one  is  amazed  at  the 


And  the  English  Novel  59 

industry  of  the  man.  Malice  and  persecution 
brought  from  him  a  dignified  protest,  but  no 
aftermath  of  complaining.  As  he  formulated  his 
political  idealism  before  the  flood-tide  of  Revolu- 
tionary popularity,  so  he  held  it  unchanged  through 
the  long  years  of  the  Reaction.  When  Words- 
worth, Coleridge,  Southey,  and  even  Blake  had 
recanted,  Godwin  and  Paine  had  fallen  silent, 
and  all  the  world  seemed  to  have  forgotten  its 
vision  of  Democracy,  Thomas  Holcroft  kept  the 
faith,  true  knight  without  fear  and  without 
reproach.  In  his  diary  for  1798  there  is  a  record 
of  a  friend  who  asked  him  "whether  the  universal 
defection  had  not  made  him  turn  aristocrat?" 

I  answered  [writes  Holcroft],  that  I  supposed  my 
principles  to  be  founded  in  truth,  that  is,  in  experience 
and  fact :  that  I  continued  to  believe  in  the  perfectibil- 
ity of  man,  which  the  blunders  and  passions  of  ignor- 
ance might  apparently  delay,  but  could  not  prevent; 
and  that  the  only  change  of  opinion  I  had  undergone 
was,  that  political  revolutions  are  not  so  well  cal- 
culated to  better  man's  condition  as  during  a  certain 
period  I  with  almost  all  thinking  men  in  Europe  had 
been  led  to  suppose/ 

Holcroft  was  the  author  of  four  novels.  Two 
of  these,  the  first  and  the  last,  we  may  pass  over 
lightly.  The  other  two  ^  contain  the  full  expression 
of  Holcroft's  Revolutionism. 

'  Memoirs,  vol.  iii.,  p.  65. 

'I.  e.,  Anna  St.  Ives  and  Hugh  Trevor,  which  we  shall  consider 
in  their  proper  chronological  order. 


6o  The  French  Revolution 

Alwyn,  or  The  Gentleman  Comedian  (1780)  was 
received  with  only  moderate  success,  and  distinctly 
unfavourable  reviews.  The  plot  as  a  whole  is  of 
little  interest  to  us.  ^  The  political  theories  are 
the  same  as  in  the  later  novels,  only  not  so  com- 
pletely worked  out.  The  characters  are  worth 
comment,  however.  Holcroft  himself  appears 
as  the  friend  of  the  hero,  under  the  name  of 
Hilkirk,  a  young  man  who  betakes  himself  to 
the  stage  on  being  discharged  from  his  position 
as  a  clerk  "for  his  frequenting  spouting  clubs  and 
billiard  rooms":  a  portrait  without  vanity,  cer- 
tainly. The  other  interesting  character  is  Hand- 
ford,  a  sentimental  gentleman  whose  ruling  passion 
is  the  prevention  of  cruelty  to  animals.  He 
establishes  a  humane  asylum  for  cats,  and  finds 
himself  frightfully  imposed  on.  He  says  in 
despair : 

I  believe  all  the  cats  in  Christendom  are  assembled 
in  Oxfordshire.  The  village  where  I  live  has  become  a 
constant  fair.  A  fellow  has  set  up  the  Sign  of  the 
Three  Blind  Kittens,  and  has  the  impudence  to  tell  the 
neighbours  that  if  my  whims  and  my  money  only 
hold  out  for  one  twelve-month,  he  will  not  care  a  fig 
for  the  king.* 

This  not  im^kindly  satire,  Hazlitt  conjectures,  was 
directed  by  the  author  against  his  friend  Ritson's 

'  This  novel  is  summarized  by  Hazlitt,  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  2 
to  13. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  10. 


And  the  English  Novel  6i 

arguments  "on  the  inhumanity  of  eating  animal 
food." 

Holcroft's  second  novel,  Anna  St.  Ives  (1792), 
is  the  story  of  two  yoimg  persons  who  do  some 
quixotic  things  and  say  a  great  many  foolish  ones, 
bringing  down  upon  themselves  a  great  deal  of  well- 
deserved  ridicule.  But  somehow  they  keep  their 
idealism  while  they  learn  wisdom,  and  in  the  end 
win  the  respect  of  their  keenest  opponent. 

The  action  centres  in  three  figures;  Anna  St. 
Ives,  the  daughter  of  a  baronet,  a  thoughtful  girl 
with  a  capacity  for  fine  enthusiasms ;  Coke  Clifton, 
whom  her  family  intend  her  to  marry;  and  Frank 
Henley,  the  son  of  her  father's  overseer.  As  this 
is  a  novel  in  letter  form,  there  are  several  minor 
characters  with  whom  they  correspond,  but  the 
action  is  simple  and  there  is  no  sub-plot. 

Frank  Henley  is  a  young  man  with  a  vigorous 
intellect  and  a  habit  of  thinking  for  himself.  He 
has  reached  certain  conclusions  as  to  the  relative 
values  in  life,  with  the  result  that  he  takes  for  the 
vital  principle  to  which  all  his  thought  and  action 
is  referred,  not  self-interest,  but  service.  Just 
what  there  was  in  this  to  bring  down  such  a  storm 
of  protest  from  Holcroft's  opponents  one  is  at  a 
loss  to  discover.  It  is  a  point  of  view  about  life 
which  found  expression  many  centuries  earlier, 
on  a  much  higher  authority  than  that  of  Thomas 
Holcroft.  But  from  the  tone  of  contemporary 
criticism  one  would  supose  that  in  Frank  Henley 
the   author  was  promulgating  a  highly  original 


62  The  French  Revolution 

and  dangerous  doctrine,  instead  of  merely  illus- 
trating the  practice  of  a  principle  that  was  safely 
embalmed  in  the  creeds  of  the  orthodox. 

Frank  Henley's  father,  a  shrewd  business  man, 
represents  what  was  apparently  the  more  usual 
point  of  view.  Frank  says  of  him:  "He  despises 
my  sense  of  philanthropy,  honour,  and  that  severe 
probity  to  which  no  laws  extend.  He  spurns  at 
the  possibility  of  preferring  the  good  of  society 
to  the  good  of  self." ' 

To  this  basic  ideal  of  a  life  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  society  Henley  adds  certain  conclusions 
which  he  has  reached  as  to  the  way  of  greatest 
usefulness.  He  writes  to  a  friend,  with  wistful 
whimsicality : 

I  half  suspect,  indeed,  that  the  world  is  not  quite 
what  it  ought  to  be.  [Then,  more  seriously],  In  order 
to  perform  my  duty  in  the  world,  I  ought  to  under- 
stand its  manners,  its  inhabitants,  and  principally  its 
laws,  with  the  effects  which  the  different  legislation 
of  different  countries  has  produced.  I  believe  this  to  be 
the  most  useful  kind  of  knowledge.^ 

Ignorance  and  prejudice  are  at  the  bottom  of 
all  the  ills  of  the  world,  he  believes.  "  How  incon- 
stant are  the  demands  and  complaints  of  ignorance ! 
It   wishes   to    tyrannize,    yet    complains    against 

'  Anna  St.  Ives,  vol.  i.,  p.  27. 

'  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  185.  Holcroft  had,  of  course,  no  conception  of 
social  evolution,  and  the  historical  method  as  we  understand  it. 
But  to  break  with  the  past  was  no  part  of  his  intention. 


And  the  English  Novel  63 

tyranny.  .  .  .  There  is  no  tyranny  but  that  of 
prejudice."^  Therefore  his  strongest  efforts  must 
always  be  directed  towards  the  spread  of  education, 
and  of  right  ways  of  thinking.  But  he  recognizes 
that  forms  of  government  have  much  to  do  with 
the  progress  and  happiness  of  nations.  He 
concludes : 

Among  the  many  who  have  a  vague  kind  of  suspi- 
cion that  things  might  be  better  are  mingled  a  few 
who  seem  desirous  that  they  should  remain  as  they 
are.  These  are  the  rich;  who  having  plundered  the 
defenseless,  say  to  the  hungry  who  have  no  food, 
' '  Labour  for  me,  and  I  will  return  you  the  tenth  of 
your  gain.  Shed  your  blood  in  my  behalf,  and  while 
you  are  young  and  robust  I  will  allow  you  just  so 
much  as  will  keep  life  and  soul  together.  When  you 
are  old,  and  worn  out,  you  may  rob,  hang,  rot,  or 
starve," — yet  let  us  not  complain.  Men  begin  to 
reason  and  think  aloud;  and  these  things  cannot  al- 
ways endure.  Let  men  look  around  and  deny  if  they 
can  that  the  present  wretched  system  of  each  provid- 
ing for  himself  instead  of  the  whole  for  the  whole, 
does  not  inspire  suspicion,  fear,  and  hatred.  Well, 
well! — another  century,  and  then 

Henley  loves  Anna  St.  Ives,  and  feels  that  they 
two  might  find  the  perfect  friendship;  as  Holcroft 
says  finely,  "the  friendship  of  marriage.     Surely  if 

'  Anna  St.  Ives,  vol.  ii.,  p.  46. 

'  Ibid.,  vol.  iv.,  p.  42.  Holcroft's  having  fixed  upon  our  cen- 
tury as  the  date  for  the  millennium  seems  like  one  of  life's  little 
ironies. 


64»  The  French  Revolution 

marriage  be  not  friendship  according  to  the  best 
and  highest  sense  in  which  that  word  is  used,  mar- 
riage cannot  but  be  something  faulty  and  vicious."  ^ 
Anna  is  aware  of  his  love;  but  she  hesitates,  be- 
cause her  world  would  not  consider  him  her  equal. 
Her  reasoning  here  is  worth  noting  as  an  illus- 
tration of  Holcroft's  attitude  on  questions  of 
propriety  and  expediency.  He  has  an  excellent 
sense  of  proportion;  he  gives  these  things  their 
full  value,  although  he  declines  to  make  them  the 
centre  of  his  ethical  code.     Anna  reflects : 

My  family  ana  the  world  are  prejudiced  and  unjust. 
I  know  it.  But  where  is  the  remedy?  Can  we  work 
miracles?  Will  the  prejudices  vanish  at  our  bidding? 
.  .  .  Though  I  earnestly  desire  to  reform,  I  almost  as 
earnestly  wish  not  unnecessarily  to  offend  the  pre- 
judices of  mankind.  .  .  .  No  arguments,  I  believe,  can 
show  me  that  I  have  a  right  to  sport  with  the  feelings 
of  my  father  and  friends,  even  when  those  feelings 
are  founded  in  prejudice.* 

At  this  jimcture  Coke  Clifton  makes  his  appear- 
ance. He  is  a  young  man  of  the  world,  clever, 
fascinating,  keen  of  intellect,  and  with  a  strong 
aversion  to  all  forms  of  cant.  He  falls  in  love 
with  Anna's  beauty  and  genuine  goodness,  but 
he  has  no  patience  with  her  solemn  priggishness. 
Henley  he  finds  quite  intolerable.  The  letters 
in  which  Clifton  describes  these  two  yoimg  dream- 
ers are  brilliant  bits  of  satire.     We  who  criticize 

'  Anna  St.  Ives,  vol.  i.,  p.  107.  '  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  156. 


And  the  English  Novel  65 

Holcroft's  heroes  for  their  tendency  to  preach 
need  not  plume  ourselves  upon  any  special  dis- 
cernment; Holcroft  was  perfectly  capable  of 
criticizing  himself  with  greater  discernment  than 
his  opponents  have  ever  shown.  Godwin,  having 
neither  imagination  nor  a  sense  of  humour,  cari- 
catures his  own  theories  imconsciously.  Holcroft 
had  both,  and  some  knowledge  of  the  world  to 
boot.  His  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  social 
idealism  was  so  deep  and  serene  that  he  could 
afford  to  laugh  at  the  well-meaning  tiresomeness 
of  himself  and  his  fellow  idealists.  Here  is  a 
sample  of  Clifton's  account  of  Frank  Henley: 

,1  cannot  deny  that  the  pedagogue  sometimes  sur- 
prises me  with  the  novelty  of  his  opinions;  but  they 
are  extravagant. — The  rude  pot-companion  loquacity 
of  the  fellow  is  highly  offensive.  He  is  one  of  your 
levellers.  Marry!  His  superior!  Who  is  he?  On 
what  proud  eminence  can  he  be  found?  On  some 
Welsh  mountain,  or  the  peak  of  Teneriff  e  ?  Certainly 
not  in  any  of  the  nether  regions.  Dispute  his  preroga- 
tive who  dare!  He  derives  from  Adam;  what  time 
the  world  was  hail  fellow  well  met !  The  savage,  the 
wild  man  of  the  woods  is  his  true  liberty  boy ;  and  the 
ourang-outang  his  first  cousin.  A  lord  is  a  merry 
andrew,  a  duke  a  jack-pudding,  and  a  king  a  tomfool: 
his  name  is  Man ! 

Then,  as  to  property,  'tis  a  tragic  farce;  'tis  his 
sovereign  pleasure  to  eat  nectarines,  grow  them  who 
will.  Another  Alexander  he;  the  world  is  all  his  own! 
Aye,  and  he  will  govern  it  as  he  best  knows  how. 


66  The  French  Revolution 

He  will  legislate,  dictate,  dogmatize,  for  who  so  in- 
fallible? 

As  for  arguments,  it  is  but  ask,  and  have:  a  peck  at 
a  bidding,  and  a  good  double  handful  over.  I  own  I 
thought  I  knew  something;  but  no,  I  must  to  my 
horn-book.  Then  for  a  simile,  it  is  a  sacrilege;  and 
must  be  kicked  out  of  the  high  court  of  logic!  Sar- 
casm too  is  an  ignoramus,  and  cannot  solve  a  problem 
with  a  pert  puppy  who  can  only  flash  and  bounce.  The 
heavy  walls  of  wisdom  are  not  to  be  battered  down 
with  such  pop-guns  and  pellets.  He  will  waste  you 
wind  enough  to  set  up  twenty  millers,  in  proving  an 
apple  is  not  an  egg  shell ;  and  that  homo  is  greek  for  a 
goose.    Duns  Scotus  was  a  schoolboy  to  him.  ^ 

Suspecting  Anna's  partiality  for  Henley,  Clifton 
takes  occasion  to  quarrel  with  him,  challenges  him 
to  a  duel,  and  when  Henley  refuses,  calls  him  a 
coward  and  strikes  him.  Henley  answers  quietly : 
"No  man  can  be  degraded  by  another.  It  must 
be  his  own  act."^  Soon  after,  Henley  vindicates 
his  courage  by  saving  Clifton's  life  at  the  risk  of 
his  own. 

Fortified  by  the  knowledge  of  former  conquests, 
Clifton  thinks  he  need  only  ask  and  Anna  will  be 
his.  To  his  utter  surprise,  she  answers  serenely 
that  he  must  wait  for  her  decision  until  they  are 
better  acquainted.  Clifton,  falling  into  the  usual 
rant  on  such  occasions,  offers  to  "do  and  dare 
anything  for  her  sake."  This  brings  a  spirited 
reply : 

'  Anna  St.  Ives,  vol.  i.,  p.  Ii6  f.  ^  Ibid.  vol.  iii.,  p.  42. 


And  the  English  Novel  67 

Dare  you  receive  a  blow,  or  suffer  yourself  falsely  to 
be  called  liar  or  coward,  without  seeking  revenge,  or 
what  honour  calls  satisfaction?  Dare  you  think  the 
servant  that  cleans  your  shoes  is  your  equal,  unless 
not  so  wise  and  good  a  man,  and  your  superior,  if 
wiser  or  better?  Dare  you  suppose  mind  has  no  sex, 
and  that  woman  is  not  by  nature  the  inferior  of  man  ? 
Dare  you  make  it  the  business  of  your  whole  life  to 
overturn  these  prejudices,  and  to  promote  among 
mankind  the  spirit  of  universal  benevolence  which 
shall  render  them  all  equals,  all  brothers?  [Seeing  his 
amazement  she  adds  somewhat  sadly],  Your  opinions 
and  principles  are  those  which  the  world  most  highly 
approves  and  applauds;  mine  are  what  it  daily  calls 
impracticable  and  absurd.^ 

This  is  perhaps  the  strangest  love  scene  in  all 
eighteenth  century  fiction.  But  there  is  stranger 
yet  to  follow.  Appreciating  Clifton's  real  powers 
of  intellect,  Anna  decides  that  she  will  marry  him, 
if  by  so  doing  she  can  influence  him  to  a  truer 
way  of  thinking.  Whereupon  she  goes  to  Henley, 
admits  she  loves  him,  then  tells  him  the  whole 
situation,  asking  him  to  put  aside  his  own  love 
for  her  and  help  her  win  his  rival  to  the  truth  they 
serve!  Henley,  after  a  struggle  with  his  own  dis- 
appointment, promises  to  help  her;  telling  her, 
however,  that  he  thinks  her  sacrifice  a  useless  and 
mistaken  one. 

Henley  and  Anna  do  their  best  to  win  Clifton 
by  argument.     He,  naturally  enough,  does   not 

'  An7ta  St.  Ives,  vol.  iii.,  p.  156  f. 


68  The  French  Revolution 

enjoy  this  perpetual  sermonizing,  and  soon  be- 
comes disgusted  with  the  idea  of  marrying  Anna. 
But  he  determines  to  be  revenged  upon  her  for 
his  humiliation.  For  purposes  of  his  own,  he 
feigns  conversion,  and  proceeds  to  carry  their 
argument  further  than  they  intend.     He  thinks : 

She  starts  at  no  proposition,  however  extravagant, 
if  it  do  but  appear  to  result  from  any  one  of  her 
favourite  systems,  of  which  she  has  a  good  round 
number.  Is  it  not  possible  to  prove  marriage  a  mere 
prejudice? — All  individual  property  is  evil — marriage 
makes  woman  individual  property — therefore  mar- 
riage is  evil — Could  there  be  better  logic?* 

Intending  to  persuade  Anna  that  it  is  her  duty  to 
"be  a  heroine  and  defy  present  necessity,"  Clifton 
entraps  her  with  this  argument.  He  puzzles, 
but  cannot  convince  her.  As  she  writes  afterward, 
she  "knew  there  was  an  answer,  a  just  and  irre- 
fragable one,  though  she  could  not  immediately 
find  it."  Hearing  of  this  brilliant  piece  of  wisdom 
on  Clifton's  part,  Henley  supplies  the  answer  of 
common  sense,  dismissing  the  whole  matter  as 
simple  absurdity.  ^ 

Baffled  in  this,  Clifton  resorts  to  force.  He  has 
Anna  kidnapped  and  concealed  in  a  country 
house  of  his  from  which  Henley  rescues  her. 
Clifton  is  dangerously  wounded,   and  is  almost 

'  Anna  St.  Ives,  vol.  v.,  p.  20  f.  William  Godwin  takes  up  this 
very  argument  in  all  seriousness,  two  years  later. 

'  Thereby  proving  his  penetration  superior  to  that  of  William 
Godwin,  who  did  not  know  a  reductio  ad  absurdum  when  he  saw  it. 


And  the  English  Novel  69 

insane  with  remorse  for  the  crimes  he  has  at- 
tempted. Anna  and  Frank  visit  him,  assuring 
him,  not  of  their  forgiveness,  but  that  they  have 
nothing  to  forgive. 

Of  what  have  you  been  guilty?  Why,  of  ignorance, 
mistakes  of  the  understanding,  false  views  which  you 
wanted  knowledge  enough,  truth  enough  to  correct. 
' '  Exemplary  punishment  is  necessary ' ' — so  they  say — 
But  no, — 'tis  exemplary  reformation.^ 

Anna  and  Henley  are  married,  of  course.  The 
book  ends,  not  with  a  sudden  conversion  -of  Clif- 
ton to  the  principles  of  altruism- — Holcroft  is 
far  too  wise  for  that — but  with  his  acknowledg- 
ment of  an  unwilling  respect  for  these  two  extra- 
ordinary young  philosophers.  He  adds,  however, 
with  a  touch  of  his  old  spirit : 

These  wise  people  should  leave  us  fools  to  wrangle, 
be  wretched,  and  cut  each  others  throats  as  we  list, 
without  intermeddling;  'tis  dangerous.  But  Truth  is 
a  zealot;  Wisdom  will  be  crying  in  the  streets;  and 
Folly  meeting  her  seldom  fails  to  deal  her  a  blow. 

HazUtt's  criticism  of  this  novel  is  worth  noting: 

Of  the  diflSculty  of  exhibiting  the  passions  under  the 
control  of  virtue,  religion,  or  any  other  abstract 
principle,  let  those  judge  who  have  studied  the 
romances  of  Richardson.^  To  have  made  Clarissa 
a  natural  character  with  all  her  studied  attention  to 

'  Anna  St.  Ives,  vol.  vii.,  p.  250.  *  Ibid.  vol.  vii.,  p.  120. 


70  The  French  Revolution 

prudence,  propriety,  etc.,  is  the  greatest  proof  of  his 
genius.  Yet  even  she  is  not  free  from  affectation. 
In  Sir  Charles  Grandison,  he  has  completely  failed.  * 

This  is  a  comparison  which  we  cannot  altogether 
admit.  Anna's  social  idealism  is  heaven-high 
above  the  prudence  of  Clarissa  as  a  controlling 
virtue.  Moreover,  Anna  and  Frank  are  much 
less  enhaloed  by  the  author  than  their  prototypes 
in  Richardson.  One  feels  that  this  is  the  criticism 
of  the  age  of  Reaction,  which  worshipped  prudence 
and  propriety,  but  was  inclined  to  think  that 
after  all  there  was  something  rather  commendable 
in  having  perfectly  undisciplined  emotions.  ^ 

Holcroft's  next  novel,  Hugh  Trevor,  is  much 
less  open  to  the  charge  of  exhibiting  virtuous 
abstractions.^  In  fact,  Hazlitt's  criticism  here  is 
just  the  reverse.  He  has  to  defend  Holcroft  from 
the  charge  of  too  great  realism  and  satire. 

As  a  political  work  [he  says]  it  may  be  considered 
as  a  sequel  to  A  nna  St.  Ives;  for  as  that  is  intended 
to  develop  certain  general  principles  by  exhibiting 
imaginary  characters,  so  the  latter  has  a  tendency  to 
enforce  the  same  conclusions  by  depicting  the  vices 

'  Hazlitt  carries  this  comparison  a  step  further;  Clifton  and 
Lovelace  are  the  same  being,  and  are  often  placed  in  situations  so 
similar  that  the  resemblance  must  strike  the  most  cursory  reader. 
Memoirs  of  Holcroft,  vol.  ii.,  p.  107. 

'  An  age,  for  instance,  that  was  shocked  by  the  opinions  of 
Shelley,  while  it  revelled  in  the  heroes  of  Byron. 

3  Published  1794  to  1797. 


And  the  English  Novel  71 

and  distresses  which  are  generated  by  the  existing 
institutions  of  society/ 

The  hero  is  not  introduced  to  us  here  with  prin- 
ciples already  formed.  We  are  allowed  to  watch 
an  ambitious,  hot-headed  youth,  with  more  aspi- 
rations than  judgment,  while  he  learns  prudence 
through  weary  years  of  disillusionment.  But 
this  novel  is  in  no  sense  a  recantation.  The 
social  idealism  that  remains  to  Hugh  Trevor  in 
the  end  is  the  same  as  that  of  Frank  Henley. 

Hugh  Trevor's  childhood  is  drawn  from  Hol- 
croft's  own.  ^  But  Trevor  is  adopted  by  his  wealthy 
grandfather  and  sent  to  Oxford.  He  takes  the 
university  life  with  exaggerated  seriousness ;  finally 
falls  imder  the  influence  of  Methodism;  is  seen 
at  a  meeting  of  that  sect  by  the  iiniversity  author- 
ities, and  rusticated  for  a  year  in  consequence. 
The  account  of  Methodism  as  Holcroft  saw  it  is 
worth  quoting. 

The  want  of  zeal  in  prayer  and  every  part  of  reli- 
gious duty,  the  tedious  and  dull  sermons  heard  in  the 
churches,  and  what  Methodists  call  preaching  them- 
selves and  not  their  Saviour,  were  the  frequent  topics 
of  our  animadversion. 

This  was  a  doctrine  most  aptly  calculated  to  in- 
flame an  imagination  like  mine,  which  was  ardent  and 
enthusiastic.    Besides,  it  relieved  me  from  a  multitude 

'  Memoirs  of  Holcroft,  vol.  ii.,  p.  134. 

^  Perhaps  there  is  more  of  autobiography  in  this  novel  than 
these  early  incidents.  Hugh  Trevor's  life  is  not  Holcroft's,  but 
the  progress  of  his  mental  development  seems  not  dissimilar. 


72  The  French  Revolution 

of  labours.  For  as  I  proceeded,  Thomas  Aquinas  and 
his  subtiHzing  competitors  were  thrown  by  in  con- 
tempt. I  had  learned  divinity  by  inspiration,  and 
soon  believed  myself  fit  for  a  reformer.  The  philoso- 
pher Aristotle  with  his  dialects  and  sophisms  was  ex- 
changed for  the  philosopher  Saint  Paul,  from  whom  I 
learned  that  he  who  had  saving  faith  had  everything, 
and  he  who  wanted  it  was  naked  of  all  excellence  as  a 
new  born  babe.  To  these  mysteries  which  all  the 
initiated  allow  are  suddenly  unfolded,  descending  like 
lightning  by  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  and  illuminating 
the  darkened  soul,  to  these  mysteries  no  man  was 
ever  a  more  combustible  kind  of  convert  than  myself. 
I  beamed  with  gospel  light.  It  shone  through  me.  I 
was  the  beacon  of  this  latter  age;  a  comet  sent  to 
warn  the  world.  I  mean,  I  was  all  this  in  my  own 
imagination,  which  swelled  and  mounted  to  the  very 
acme  of  fanaticism. 

But  although  Trevor  refused  to  recant  tmder 
pressiire,  he  admits  afterwards: 

My  dereliction  of  intellect  was  of  short  duration, 
my  attachment  to  Methodism  daily  declining  and  at 
last  changing  into  something  like  aversion  and  horror.  ^ 

During  his  year  of  rustication,  Trevor  goes  to 
London  as  secretary  to  the  Earl  of  Idford,  a  young 
lord  of  the  minority  party,  who  says  he  is  "a 
friend  to  the  philosophy  of  the  times,  and  woidd 
have  every  man  measured  by  the  standard  of 
individual  merit." 

'  Hugh  Trevor,  vol.  i.,  p.  154.^ 


And  the  English  Novel  73 

These  liberal  sentiments  [says  Holcroft]  were  de- 
livered on  the  first  visit  he  received  from  the  leader 
•f  the  minority.  ^  Anger,  self-interest  and  the  desire  of 
revenge  had  induced  him  to  adopt  the  same  political 
principles;  anger,  self-interest,  and  the  desire  of  re- 
venge had  induced  him  to  endeavour  after  the  same 
elevation  of  mind.  Esop  is  dead,  but  his  frog  and  his 
ox  are  still  to  be  found.  ^ 

Holcroft  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  motives 
affecting  many  of  the  followers  of  the  new  philo- 
sophy. He  would  have  been  the  first  to  admit 
that  Lucas's  satire  was  not  without  foundation 
in  fact.  3  The  Earl  of  Idford  and  Lord  Marauder 
are  close  akin. 

Trevor  also  gets  an  introduction  to  a  bishop, 
and  in  a  furious  fit  of  orthodoxy,  writes  a  "  Defence 
of  the  Thirty  Nine  Articles."  The  bishop  invites 
him  to  a  dinner  (of  which  Holcroft  gives  a  highly 
satirical  account),'*  and  proposes  to  print  this 
polemic  under  his  own  name.  Trevor  replies 
by  denoimcing  the  amazed  bishop,  and  rushes 
away,  shocked  at  the  discovery  that  all  Chiirch- 
men  are  not  worthy  of  reverence.  * 

'  Probably  Fox.  ^  Hugh  Trevor. 

3  Cf.  discussion  of  The  Infernal  Quixote,  in  Chapter  V.  of  this 
thesis. 

4  Holcroft  often  satirizes  the  intemperance  of  his  time  in  the 
matter  of  eating  and  drinking.  Simple  to  the  point  of  austeritj" 
in  his  own  tastes,  he  had  a  fastidious  disgust  for  all  forms  of  self- 
indulgence. 

s  As  we  have  quoted  Holcroft's  account  of  Methodism,  we 
may  also  examine  his  views  on  orthodoxy,  in  the  person  of  the 


74  The  French  Revolution 

Trevor  has  written  in  the  Eari's  name  a  series 
of  poHtical  letters,  opposing  the  ministry.  At 
about  this  time  the  Earl  comes  to  terms  with  the 
ministry,  deserts  the  minority  party,  and  wishes 
Trevor  to  change  the  tone  of  his  letters  accordingly. 
Trevor  replies  indignantly  that  "when  he  wrote 
against  the  minister  it  was  not  against  the  man," 
and  that  he  "  cannot  hold  the  pen  of  prostitution." 
So  end  all  his  prospects,  and  his  faith  that  church- 
men and  statesmen  are  ex  officio  superior  to 
common  mortals. 

There  is  something  so  winning  in  the  very 
blunders  of  this  hot-headed  young  idealist  that 
one  is  willing  to  excuse  his  melodramatic  rant  on 
the  ground  of  his  extreme  youth.  But  Holcroft 
does  not  spare  him.     He  comments : 

And  yet,  when  the  Earl  had  asked  me  to  write 
letters  that  were  supposed  by  the  public  the  produc- 
tion of  his  own  pen,  I  had  then  no  such  qualms  of 
conscience.  When  deceit  was  not  to  favour  but  to 
counteract  my  plans,  its  odious  immorality  rushed 
upon  me.  ^ 

bishop.  "He  was  so  sternly  orthodox  as  to  hold  the  slightest 
deviation  from  Church  authority  in  abhorrence.  What  he  meant 
by  Church  authority,  or  what  any  rational  man  can  mean,  it 
might  be  difficult  to  define;  except  that  Church  authority  and 
orthodox  opinions  are,  with  each  individual,  those  precise  points 
which  that  individual  makes  part  of  his  creed.  But  as,  unfor- 
tunately for  Church  authority,  no  two  individuals  ever  had  or 
ever  can  have  the  same  creed,  Church  authority  is  like  a  body  in 
motion.  No  man  can  tell  where  it  rests. "  {Hugh  Trevor,  vol.  i., 
p.  285.) 

'  Hugh  Trevor,  vol.  ii.,  p.  24. 


And  the  English  Novel  75 

There  is  in  London  an  old  schoolmate  of  Trevor's 
named  Turl,  who  was  expelled  from  the  Univer- 
sity for  heresy,  and  is  earning  a  contented  liveli- 
hood as  an  engraver.  Trevor  rushes  to  him  in 
an  agony  of  rage  and  disillusionment,  and  tells 
him  his  plans  for  exposing  Bishop  and  Earl  in  a 
scathing  pamphlet.  Turl  calmly  replies,  Trevor 
was  a  fool  to  expect  a  lord  to  be  more  honourable 
or  a  bishop  more  righteous  than  other  men.  As 
for  exposing  them  he  adds,  even  if  it  could  be 
done  successfully: 

"You  will  be  to  blame — you  may  be  better  em- 
ployed." 

"What!  than  in  exposing  vice?" 

"The  employment  is  petty;  and  what  is  worse,  it  is 
ineflficient.  Such  attacks  are  apt  to  deprave  both  the 
assailant  and  the  assailed.  They  begin  in  anger,  con- 
tinue in  falsehood,  and  end  in  fury.  I  repeat,  you 
may  be  better  employed,  Mr.  Trevor."' 

Trevor  returns  to  Oxford,  but  the  Earl  of  Idford 
manages  to  have  him  expelled  without  a  degree. 
He  learns  that  the  bishop  has  actually  published 
th^  polemic  as  his  own,  without  the  writer's  con- 
sent. Trevor  alienates  the  sympathy  he  might 
have  had  in  the  University  at  large  by  his  vio- 
lent and  incoherent  attack  on  both  Bishop  and 
Earl. 

Almost  penniless,  Trevor  returns  to  London  and 
devotes  himself  to  writing  a  pamphlet  denouncing 

'  Hugh  Trevor,  vol.  ii.,  p.  65. 


76  The  French  Revolution 

Earl,  Bishop,  and  University,  Turl  again  tells 
him  he  is  in  the  wrong;  that  his  troubles  are  more 
than  half  due  to  his  own  ungovemed  temper; 
and  finally  that  it  is  absiird  to  blame  the  whole 
structure  of  society  because  his  own  individual 
happiness  and  ambition  have  been  thwarted. 

There  are,  indeed,  wrongs  and  injustices  in  the 
world  which  men  must  not  pass  by  in  silence.  Speak,' 
but  speak  to  the  world  at  large,  not  to  insignificant 
individuals:  Speak  in  the  tone  of  a  benevolent  and 
disinterested  heart,  not  of  an  inflamed  and  revengeful 
imagination.  Otherwise  you  endanger  yourself  and 
injure  society.^ 

Another  friend  of  Trevor's,  Wilmot,  after 
wretched  years  of  hack  writing  at  starvation  pay^ 
attempts  suicide.  Turl  rescues  him  from  the 
river,  and  tries  to  bring  him  to  a  truer  sense  of 
the  value  of  life.  This  passage  is  so  characteristic 
of  Holcroft's  philosophy  that  it  is  worth  quoting 
entire : 

You  demand  that  I  should  communicate  to  you  a 
desire  of  life.  Can  you  have  a  perception  of  the 
essential  duties  you  are  fitted  to  perform,  and  dare 
you  think  of  dying  ? 

You  have  been  brooding  over  your  own  wrongs, 
which  your  distorted  fancy  has  painted  as  perhaps  the 
most  insufferable  in   the  whole  circle  of  existence! 

'  Hugh  Trevor,  vol.  ii.,  p.  172. 

» Holcroft  describes  this  very  vividly.  He  knew  it  from  ex- 
perience! 


And  the  English  Novel  77 

How  can  you  be  so  blind?  Look  at  the  mass  of  evil 
by  which  you  are  surrounded!  What  is  its  origin? 
Ignorance.  Ignorance  is  the  source  of  all  evil;  and 
there  is  one  species  of  ignorance  to  which  you  and 
men  like  you  have  been  egregiously  subject ;  ignorance 
of  the  true  mode  of  exercising  your  rare  faculties; 
ignorance  of  their  unbounded  power  of  enjoyment. 

You  have  been  persuaded  that  this  power  was 
destroyed  by  the  ridiculous  distinction  of  rich  and 
poor.  Oh  mad  mad  world!  Monstrous  absurdity! 
Incomprehensible  blindness!  Look  at  the  rich!  In 
what  are  they  happy?  In  what  do  they  excel  the 
poor?  Not  in  their  greater  store  of  wealth;  which  is 
but  a  source  of  vice,  disease  and  death;  but  in  a  little 
superiority  of  knowledge,  a  trifling  advance  towards 
truth.  How  may  this  advantage  be  made  general? 
Not  by  the  indulgence  of  the  desires  you  have  fostered 
but  by  retrenching  those  false  wants  that  you  panted 
to  gratify;  and  thus  giving  leisure  to  the  poor,  or 
rather,  to  all  mankind,  to  make  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge  the  grand  business  of  life. 

Holcroft  is  quite  aware  of  his  opponents'  answer 
to  such  an  ideal,  and  supplies  it:  "The  self-denial 
you  require  is  not  in  the  nature  of  man."  To 
which  Turl  gives  his  answer:  "The  nature  of  man 
is  senseless  jargon.  Man  is  that  which  he  is  made 
by  the  occurrences  to  which  he  is  subjected."' 

Trevor  becomes  acquainted  with  an  eccentric 
philanthropist,  Mr.  Evelyn,  who,  struck  by  a 
certain  honesty  of  intention  under  all  Trevor's 

'  Hugh  Trevor,  vol.  ii.,  280  f. 


78  The  French  Revolution 

mistakes,  offers  to  help  him  to  enter  some  pro- 
fession where  he  can  be  of  real  service  to  society. 
The  passage  in  which  Mr.  Evelyn  explains  his 
views  of  the  times  is  more  than  any  other  passage, 
perhaps,  an  answer  to  the  charge  that  Holcroft 
countenanced  the  violent  factions  of  his  time. 

It  is  the  moral  system  of  the  time  [he  says],  that 
wants  reforming.  This  cannot  be  suddenly  produced, 
nor  by  the  effort  of  any  individual;  but  it  may  be 
progressive,  and  every  individual  may  contribute: 
though  some  more  powerfully  than  others.  The  rich, 
in  proportion  as  they  shall  understand  their  power  and 
their  duties,  may  become  peculiarly  instrumental;  for 
poverty,  by  being  subjected  to  continual  labotu,  is 
necessarily  ignorant ;  and  it  is  well  known  how  danger- 
ous it  is  for  ignorance  to  turn  reformer. 

Let  the  rich  therefore  awake.  They  are  not,  as 
they  have  long  been  taught  to  suppose  themselves, 
placed  beyond  the  censure  of  the  multitude.  It  is 
found  that  the  multitude  can  think,  and  have  dis- 
covered that  the  use  that  the  wealthy  often  make  of 
what  they  call  their  own  is  unjust,  tyrannous,  and 
destructive.  The  spirit  of  inquiry  is  abroad. — But 
when  they  expect  to  promote  peace  and  order  by  irri- 
tating each  other  against  this  or  that  class  of  men, 
however  mistaken  those  men  may  be,  and  by  dis- 
seminating a  mutual  spirit  of  acrimony  between 
themselves  and  their  opponents,  they  act  like  mad- 
men; and  if  they  do  not  grow  calm,  forgiving,  and 
kind,  the  increasing  fury  of  the  mad  many  will  over- 
take them.  ^ 

'  Hugh  Trevor,  vol.  iv.,  p.  93  f. 


And  the  English  Novel  79 

Holcroft  knew,  as  few  literary  men  did,  what 
forces  were  stirring  below  the  surface  of  the  social 
order.  He  calls  upon  the  so-called  upper  classes 
to  set  their  own  house  in  order,  lest  a  worse  thing 
befall  them.  His  faith  in  the  saving  power  of 
social  idealism  was  not  in  spite  of  his  knowledge 
of  the  world,  but  because  of  it. 

Hugh  Trevor,  having  reluctantly  consented  to 
accept  financial  aid  from  Mr.  Evelyn  for  a  time, 
the  question  of  a  profession  for  him  is  discussed. 
The  law  is  decided  upon,  as  giving  rare  opportu- 
nities for  serving  society  by  uprightness.  Trevor 
accordingly  goes  to  London  to  read  law.  Gradu- 
ally he  becomes  convinced  that,  however  noble 
and  necessary  law  may  be  in  theory,  in  practice 
it  is  a  mass  of  chicanery.  Very  regretfully  he 
tells  Mr.  Evelyn  that  for  him  the  way  of  service 
does  not  lie  in  the  practice  of  law. 

Mr.  Evelyn  has  a  relative.  Sir  Barnard,  who 
has  the  disposal  of  two  seats  in  Parliament.  One 
of  these  he  occupies  himself,  and  the  other  he  gives 
to  some  young  man  who  will  vote  as  he  does,  i.  e., 
in  opposition  to  the  ministry.  Trevor  is,  of  course, 
of  the  minority  party  from  conviction;  so  he 
accepts  Sir  Barnard's  offer  of  a  seat  and  is  duly 
elected.  During  the  pre-election  canvassing  he 
finds  himself  forced  into  many  practices  of  which 
he  cannot  approve.  There  are  no  money  bribes; 
but  he  is  expected  to  make  valuable  presents  to  the 
voters.  He  develops  a  considerable  gift  of  oratory, 
however,  and  Sir  Barnard  is  delighted  with  him. 


8o  The  French  Revolution 

In  London,  the  young  M.P.  attends  a  banquet 
where  he  meets  his  old  enemies,  the  Earl  of  Idford 
and  the  Bishop.  Idford  is  worn  with  dissipation, 
and  the  Bishop  is  aged  by  his  life  of  self-indulgence 
and  petty  intrigues  for  power.  As  Trevor  looks 
at  them  all  traces  of  his  old  hatred  vanish  and 
give  place  to  a  deep  sadness  that  these  men 
shoiild  have  so  missed  the  durable  satisfactions 
in  life. 

Trevor's  career  in  Parliament  comes  to  an  ab- 
rupt end.  Sir  Barnard  had  opposed  the  ministry 
only  from  pique  at  being  refused  a  baronetcy. 
This  being  granted  him  he  suddenly  changes  sides, 
and  on  Trevor's  indignant  refusal  to  follow  him, 
a  violent  quarrel  ensues.  Unfortunately,  Trevor's 
patron,  Mr.  Evelyn,  is  dead;  Sir  Barnard  has  in- 
herited his  estate.  Trevor  had  insisted  on  giving 
a  note  for  aU  the  money  he  received.  This  note 
comes  into  the  hands  of  Sir  Barnard,  who  uses 
it  to  have  Trevor  imprisoned  for  debt.  Trevor 
might  plead  exemption  from  arrest,  as  an  M.P., 
but  he  feels  boimd  in  honour  to  resign  as  soon  as 
he  can  no  longer  vote  as  Sir  Barnard  wishes. 

Trevor  accepts  imprisonment  quietly.  But 
help  comes  from  unexpected  quarters.  A  man 
who  has  cheated  him  out  of  a  large  sum  of  money, 
compelled  to  an  unwilling  respect  for  his  principles, 
makes  restitution.  Soon  after,  a  legacy  makes 
Trevor  comparatively  wealthy,  and  he  marries 
Olivia,  one  of  the  most  charming  of  Revolutionary 
heroines,  whose  lifelong  love  for  him  has  woven 


And  the  English  Novel  8i 

a  thread  of  romance  through  this  somewhat  over- 
serious  novel. 

By  way  of  criticism  we  can  perhaps  do  no  better 
than  to  give  Holcroft's  own  comment  on  a  French 
review  of  the  book.  ^ 

Read  a  criticism  in  La  Decade  Philosophigue  on  a 
French  translation  of  Hugh  Trevor,  containing  great 
praise  and  some  pointed  blame.  The  chief  articles  of 
the  latter  are, — that  the  plan  proposed  is  incomplete, 
(true),  that  some  of  the  conversations  are  too  long 
(true),  that  my  satire  on  professions  is  unfounded 
(false),  that  I  have  not  put  my  morality  sufficiently 
into  action  (false  again,  the  law  part  excepted),  that 
probability  is  not  quite  enough  regarded  (perhaps  not) , 
and  that,  to  make  Trevor  so  suddenly  a  wealthy  man 
is  entirely  in  the  novel  style  (true;  blamable).  The 
following  are  the  concluding  remarks:  "Malgre  ces 
defauts  qu'on  peut  reprocher,  comme  nous  I'avons  vu, 
k  beaucoup  de  romans,  celui-ci  merite  assurement 
d'etre  distingue  par  la  justesse  des  observations,  la 
v^rit6  des  tableaux  et  des  caract^res,  le  naturel  du 
dialogue,  la  peinture  exacte  des  moeurs  et  des  ridicules. 
En  un  mot,  c'est  I'ouvrage  d'un  homme  de  talent, 
d'un  observateur  habile  et  exercice,  d'un  ami  des 
moeurs  et  de  la  vertu;  disons  encore  d'un  ^crivain 
patriote,  hardi  d^fenseur  des  droits  sacr^s  du  peuple, 
et  de  telles  productions  sont  toujours  faites  pour  6tre 
bien  accueillies. " 

Holcroft  had  to  go  outside  of  his  own  coimtry 
for  a  just  estimate  of  his  work.     The  praise  of 

'  Memoirs,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  134  f. 
6 


82  The  French  Revolution 

this  French  critic  is  well  deserved.  We  are  con- 
cerned here  with  novels  as  an  expression  of  ideas 
rather  than  from  the  standpoint  of  literary  excel- 
lence; but  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  observe  that  of 
all  the  novels  here  considered  those  of  Holcroft 
are  the  only  ones  whose  obscurity  is  in  any  way  to 
be  regretted. 

For  the  last  of  his  novels,  The  Memoirs  of  Brian 
Perdue  (1805),  Holcroft  has  chosen  the  favourite 
theme  of  humanitarian  radicals:  the  evils  of  the 
English  penal  system.  In  this  he  shows  himself 
truly  a  representative  Revolutionist,  for  no  other 
form  of  social  injustice  so  appealed  to  imaginations 
quickened  by  the  new  ideas.  From  Caleb  Williams 
to  The  Prisoner  of  Chillon  there  was  a  continuous 
stream  of  literature  inspired  by  the  wrongs  of 
the  criminal  and  the  convict.  It  might  almost 
be  said  that  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  social 
punishment  is  a  corollary  of  the  Virtuous  Outlaw, 
dear  to  Sentimentalists.  We  shall  encounter  both 
themes  frequently  in  the  fiction  under  discussion. 

Holcroft's  novel  directed  against  frequent  and 
indiscriminate  capital  punishment  shows  his  char- 
acteristic moderation.  The  subject  is  one  on 
which  he  as  an  "acquitted  felon"  was  peculiarly 
entitled  to  a  hearing.  The  true  source  of  Brian 
Perdue  is  not  the  Sentimentalists'  Virtuous  Outlaw, 
but  Holcroft's  own  experience  when  he  was  on 
trial  for  his  life  eleven  years  before. 

The  purpose  and  method  in  Brian  Perdue  are 
best  stated  in  the  author's  own  words: 


And  the  English  Novel  83 

Whenever  I  have  undertaken  to  write  a  novel  I  have 
proposed  to  myself  a  specific  moral  purpose.  This 
purpose, — in  the  present  work  [is],  to  induce  all 
humane  and  thinking  men,  such  as  legislators  ought  to 
be  and  often  are,  to  consider  the  general  and  adventi- 
tious value  of  human  life,  and  the  moral  tendency  of 
penal  laws. 

To  exemplify  this  doctrine  it  was  necessary  that 
the  hero  of  the  fable  should  offend  those  laws,  that 
his  life  should  be  in  jeopardy,  and  that  he  shoiild 
possess  not  only  a  strong  leaven  of  virtue,  but  high 
powers  of  mind,  such  as  to  induce  the  heart  to  shrink 
at  the  recollection  that  such  a  man  might  have  been 
legally  put  to  death.  ^ 

There  is  little  in  the  development  of  this  theme 
that  merits  especial  attention.  There  are  signi- 
ficant attacks  upon  the  ruthless  and  unscrupulous 
methods  of  the  rising  capitalist  class;  there  are 
some  characteristic  pleas  for  tolerance,  for  for- 
bearance in  dealing  with  those  whose  opinions 
seem  to  us  mistaken ;  for  the  rest,  Holcroft  reverts 
in  style  to  his  eighteenth-century  models.  He 
digresses  in  passages  of  Addisonian  reflection, 
interlarded  sometimes  with  Sterne-like  whimsi- 
calities. Now  and  again  he  indulges  in  conscious 
neo-classical  "beauties,"  or  attempts  somewhat 
laboured  satire  after  the  manner  of  Pope. 

The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  Holcroft  is 
writing  as  an  old  man,  with  a  meditative  detach- 
ment impossible  in  the  stirring  days  that  inspired 

'  Holcroft,  Brian  Perdue,  Preface,  p.  i. 


84  The  French  Revolution 

his  earlier  novels.  Freed  from  youthful  iu"gency 
in  defence  of  a  losing  cause,  he  becomes  more  of 
a  conscious  artist  in  his  attitude.  Unfortunately 
for  Brian  Perdue,  it  is  not  Holcroft's  mannered 
and  mediocre  artistry  that  appeals  to  us  now,  but 
the  sincere  and  gentle  personality  of  the  author 
himself. 

We    have     called    Holcroft    a    representative 
Revolutionist.     But  it  will  be  observed  how  sel- 
dom in  his  works  we  find  specific  mention  of  the 
Revolutionary  philosophies.     Once,   in  Anna  St. 
Ives,  the  hero  is  seen  reading  the  Nouvelle  Heloise; 
he  half  apologizes  for  it,  adding,  "I  think  I  know 
<     what  were  the   author's  mistakes."'     Again,  we 
v  '^  have  Holcroft's  own  comment  on  Political  Justice, 
\-^'^''>a?a'^'  'that :  "The  book  was  written  with  good  intentions, 
\yt        but  to  be  sure  nothing  could  be   so   foolish."^ 
0^     ^   These  are  the  only  direct  evidences  we  have  of 
^>r  Q/-^  J'yhis  Revolutionary  reading. 

/^c^"  This  does  not  mean  of  course,  that  Holcroft 
was  not  influenced  by  the  new  philosophies.  His 
intimate  association  with  the  Revolutionists  in 
London  literary  circles  and  his  connection  with 
the  Society  for  Constitutional  Information  would 
insure  his  being  acquainted  with  all  the  radical 
ideas  afloat,  at  second  hand,  if  not  from  his  own 
reading. 

What  it  may  indicate  is,  that  Holcroft's  social 
idealism  was  less   associated  in   his  mind  with 

'  Anna  St.  Ives,  vol.  iv.,  p.  154. 

'  Paul,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  116. 


And  the  English  Novel  85 

metaphysical  conceptions  of  Reason  and  Justice 
or  with  the  political  crisis  in  a  neighbouring  coun- 
try than  with  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  social 
conditions  in  his  own.  For  Holcroft  knew  the 
life  of  his  time  at  first  hand,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  case  with  its  philosophies.  The  profes- 
sion of  actor-dramatist  has  shown  itself  a  good 
school  of  observation  since  the  days  of  the  Mer- 
maid Tavern.  And  probably  no  other  writer 
among  the  Revolutionists  knew  from  personal 
experience  so  many  layers  of  society;  from  the 
life  of  a  stable  boy  to  the  choicest  literary  circles 
of  London,  with  a  trial  for  High  Treason  thrown 
in! 

Holcroft 's  Revolutionism,  then,  may  be  taken 
as  representative,  not  alone  of  a  small  group  of 
closet-philosophers,  but  of  the  more  vitalizing 
currents  of  social  idealism  which  had  their  source 
in  the  social  unrests  of  the  time. 


CHAPTER  III 
REVOLUTIONARY  PHILOSOPHERS 

SECTION    I:    WILLIAM   GODWIN 

AMONG  our  philosophical  novelists  the  second 
in  order  of  time  (and,  to  my  mind,  also  in 
order  of  importance),  is  William  Godwin.  As  we 
have  already  observed,  there  has  been  a  decided 
tendency,  especially  among  critics  somewhat 
hostile  to  political  idealism,  to  regard  him  as  the 
central  figure  of  the  entire  movement;  an  inter- 
pretation which  greatly  simplifies  the  task  of  dis- 
missing the  Revolutionists  as  a  group  of  amiable 
fanatics.  If,  therefore,  the  present  discussion 
seem  to  minimize  his  originality  and  underestimate 
his  influence,  there  will  be  foiind  no  lack  of  com- 
mentators who  do  him  justice. 

William  Godwin'  was  the  son  of  a  dissenting 
minister,  of  Cambridgeshire.  The  account  God- 
win gives  of  his  father  is,  as  Paul  says,  "amusing 
and  characteristic."^  "Aiming  at  the  most  scru- 
pulous fairness  he  succeeds  only  in  giving  a  very 
distinct  impression  that  he  had  but  little  love  for 

'  William  Godwin,  bom  1756,  died  1836. 
*  Patd,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  7. 
86 


The  English  Novel  87 

his  father  and  no  very  high  opinion  of  his  mental 
powers."  ^  Godwin's  early  reading  consisted  prin- 
cipally of  books  of  sermons,  the  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
and  the  Pious  Deaths  of  many  Godly  Children. 
In  this  "hotbed  of  forced  piety"  he  grew  up  a 
precocious,  self-conscious  child,  whose  most  char- 
acteristic features  were,  as  he  says  himself,  "reli- 
gion and  the  love  of  distinction."^ 

Godwin's  schooling  was  regular,  and  the  in- 
struction probably  somewhat  above  the  average; 
but  not  of  a  sort  to  counteract  his  imwholesome 
childhood.  His  principal  teacher,  by  whom  he 
was  greatly  influenced,  was,  as  he  tells  us,  "a  dis- 
ciple of  the  supra-Calvinistic  opinions  of  Robert 
Sandeman."3  In  consequence,  we  hear  later  of 
the  boy  Godwin  being  rejected  from  Homerton 
Academy  on  the  suspicion  of  Sandemanian  heresy. 
In  1773  he  entered  Hoxton  College.  We  have  his 
own  account  of  his  interests  during  the  five  years 
he  spent  there : 

During  my  academical  life,  and  from  this  time 
forward,  I  was  indefatigable  in  my  search  after  truth. 
I  read  all  the  authors  of  greatest  repute  for  and  against 
the  Trinity,  original  sin,  and  the  most  disputed  doc- 
trines; but  I  was  not  yet  of  an  understanding  sufficient- 
ly ripe  for  impartial  discussion,  and  all  my  inquiries 

'  Paul  adds  a  significant  passage  from  Godwin's  account  of  his 
mother:  "After  her  husband's  death  her  character  became  con- 
siderably changed;  she  surrendered  herself  to  the  visionary  hopes 
and  tormenting  fears  of  the  methodistical  sect.  " 

"  Paul,  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  9.  ^  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  13. 


88  The  French  Revolution 

terminated  in  Calvinism.  I  was  famous  in  our  college 
for  calm  and  impassionate  discussion.  For  one  whole 
summer  I  rose  at  five  and  went  to  bed  at  midnight, 
that  I  might  have  sufficient  time  for  theology  and 
metaphysics.  I  formed  during  this  period  from 
reading  on  all  sides  a  creed  upon  materialism  and 
immaterialism,  liberty  and  necessity,  in  which  no 
subsequent  improvement  of  my  understanding  has 
been  able  to  produce  any  variation.^ 

Soon  after  this  began  Godwin's  friendship  with 
Joseph  Fawcett,  another  young  dissenting  minister, 
"one  of  whose  favourite  topics  was  a  declamation 
against  the  domestic  affections,  a  principle  which 
admirably  coincided  with  the  dogmas  of  Jonathan 
Edwards,  whose  works  I  had  read  a  short  time 
before."^  It  will  be  remembered  that  Godwin 
ranks  Joseph  Fawcett  first  among  the  four  oral 
instructors  to  whom  he  acknowledges  particular 
indebtedness;  the  others  being  Holcroft,  George 
Dyson,  and  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge. 

After  a  few  not  altogether  successful  years  as 
a  dissenting  minister  and  tutor,  Godwin  went  to 
London  and  became  a  political  writer  for  the 
liberal  side,  contributing  regularly  to  the  official 
organs  of  Fox  and  Sheridan,  Of  the  progress 
of  his  opinions  during  these  years  he  has,  as 
usual,  left  us  a  careful  record.  He  was  always 
deeply  interested  in  the  processes  of  his  own 
mind. 

'  Paul,  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  15.  '  Ibid.  vol.  i.,  p.  17. 


And  the  English  Novel  89 

In  1782  I  believed  in  the  doctrine  of  Calvin — The 
Systeme  de  la  Nature,  read  about  the  beginning  of  that 
year,  changed  my  opinions  and  made  me  a  Deist.  I 
afterwards  veered  to  Socinianism,  in  which  I  was 
confirmed  by  Priestley's  Institutes,  in  the  beginning  of 
1783.  I  remember  having  entertained  doubts  in  1785, 
when  I  corresponded  with  Priestley.  But  I  was  not  a 
complete  unbeliever  until  1787.^ 

Godwin's  life  thenceforward  was  that  of  the 
typical  London  literary  man  of  the  period.  He 
attended  the  Constitutional  and  Revolutionary 
societies,  was  intimate  with  Holcroft,  Coleridge, 
and  Lamb,  and  acquainted  with  the  rest  of  the 
Revolutionary  circle.  There  is  hardly  a  name  of 
literary,  philosophical,  or  theatrical  interest  that 
does  not  appear  in  his  diary. 

The  publication  of  Political  Justice  (1793) 
raised  Godwin  at  once  to  a  position  of  recognized 
eminence  among  the  radical  thinkers  of  the  time. 
We  shall  see  (in  the  next  chapter)  that  the  literary 
opponents  of  Revolutionism  seized  upon  Political 
Justice  as  embodying  the  very  essence  of  the  radical 
heresies,  the  accepted  creed  of  democratic  opinion. 
But  it  will  be  observed  that  practical  statesmen 
saw  more  danger  in  Paine's  popular  discussions, 
and  Holcroft's  gentle  appeals  to  an   awakening 

'  Paul,  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  26.  "Unbeliever"  is  not  to  be  taken 
in  an  extreme  sense  here.  Godwin  later  states  that  he  "finds  the 
idea  of  God  so  easy,  obvious,  and  irresistible  as  instantly  to 
convert  mystery  into  reason  and  contradictions  into  certainty." 
As  a  systematic  metaphysician,  Godwin  never  could  tolerate  any 
loose  ends  in  his  universe. 


90  The  French  Revolution 

social  sense,  than  in  all  the  metaphysical  subtleties 
of  Godwin.  It  was  not  pure  chance  that  Holcroft 
was  brought  to  trial  while  Godwin  escaped  arrest.  ^ 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
Political  Justice  was  at  any  time  accepted  by  the 
Revolutionists  themselves  as  the  true  and  orthodox 
presentation  of  their  philosophy.  Ample  proof 
of  this  is  afforded  by  the  opinions  Godwin  quotes 
in  his  journal  (for  March  23,  1793) : 

Dr.  Priestley  says  my  book  contains  a  vast  extent 
of  ability — Monarchy  and  Aristocracy,  to  be  sure, 
were  never  so  painted  before — he  admits  all  my 
principles,  but  cannot  follow  them  into  all  my  con- 
clusions— Home  Tooke  tells  me  my  book  is  a  bad 
book,  and  will  do  a  great  deal  of  harm — Holcroft  had 
previously  informed  me,  that  he  said  the  book  was 
written  with  good  intentions,  but  to  be  sure  nothing 
could  be  so  foolish.^ 

The  latter  part  of  Godwin's  life  need  not  detain 
us.  In  1797  he  married  Mary  Wollstonecraft.^ 
Within  the  year  she  died,  leaving  two  children 
under  his  care.  By  this  time  Godwin's  views  on 
the  political  injustice  of  marriage  were  completely 

'  Paul,  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  80.  Political  Justice  escaped  prose- 
cution because  of  the  expensive  form  in  which  it  was  published. 
Pitt  is  said  to  have  observed,  when  the  question  was  debated  in 
the  Privy  Council,  that  "a  three  guinea  book  could  never  do 
much  harm  among  those  who  had  not  three  shillings  to  spare." 
The  wily  Pitt  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  distinction  between 
the  philosophy  of  the  study  and  the  propaganda  of  social  unrest. 

*  Paul,  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  116. 

3  Cf.  Chapter  VII.,  Section"2,  of  this  book. 


And  the  English  Novel  91 

forgotten;  he  seems  to  have  proposed  to  half  the 
literary  women  of  his  acquaintance  before  he  was 
finally  married  by  a  scheming  widow  with  two 
children  of  her  own.  A  son,  William  Godwin, 
junior,  was  soon  added  to  his  responsibilities. 
From  this  time  on,  the  diary  and  letters  form  an 
ungracious  record  of  financial  and  domestic  diffi- 
culties, shabby  expediencies,  querulous  complaints, 
squabbles  with  his  friends,  fading  ideals,  and  in- 
creasing literary  obscurity.  Not  Godwin  but  the 
yoimg  Shelley  was  to  be  the  Light-bearer  of  political 
idealism  during  the  dreary  decades  of  the  Reaction. 
Such,  so  far  as  it  need  concern  us,  was  the  life 
of  William  Godwin.  A  greater  contrast  to  that 
of  his  friend  Holcroft  could  hardly  be  imagined. 
All  his  occupations,  as  student,  preacher,  tutor, 
tended  to  restrict  his  experience  of  life  and  foster 
his  natural  tendency  to  introspection.  Sur- 
rounded from  childhood  by  an  atmosphere  of 
somewhat  fussy  piety,  schooled  in  metaphysical 
and  theological  hairsplitting,  there  is  small  wonder 
that  such  natural  common  sense  and  judgment 
as  he  may  have  had  were  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
The  traits  which  he  recognized  in  himself  as  a 
child — "religion  and  a  desire  for  distinction,"' — 
remained  the  dominant  characteristics  of  the  man. 
His  "religion"  (by  which  he  probably  meant  his 
theological  bent;  his  writings  show  little  trace  of 
any  genuine  religious  sense),  appears  in  the  meta- 
physics of  Political  Justice.  The  "desire  for 
distinction" — true  mark  of  the  egoist — became  an 


92  The  French  Revolution 

introspective  self-consciousness  that  intensified 
his  extreme  individualistic  philosophy.  It  is 
this  latter  quality  that  appears  most  strongly  in 
his  novels. 

The  novels  of  William  Godwin  which  we  shall 
consider  are  six  in  number.  ^  The  first  in  time,  in 
merit,  and  in  importance  is  Caleb  Williams.  This 
was  published  in  the  year  following  Political 
Justice,  when  the  author,  as  he  himself  tells  us, 
was  still  fully  in  the  spirit  of  that  work.  The 
preface  annoimces  it  as  a  novel  with  a  purpose : 

It  was  proposed  in  the  invention  of  the  following 
work,  to  comprehend,  as  far  as  the  progressive  nature 
of  a  single  story  would  allow,  a  general  review  of  the 
modes  of  domestic  and  unrecorded  despotism  by 
which  man  becomes  the  destroyer  of  man.  If  the 
author  shall  have  taught  a  valuable  lesson,  without 
subtracting  from  the  interest  and  passion  by  which  a 
performance  of  this  sort  ought  to  be  characterized, 
he  will  have  reason  to  congratulate  himself  on  the 
vehicle  he  has  chosen.^ 

'  Caleb  Williams,  or  Things  as  They  Are  (1794);  St.  Leon 
(1799);  Fleetwood,  or  The  New  Man  of  Feeling  (1805);  Mande- 
ville  (18 1 7);  Cloudesley  (182,0);  and  Deloraine  {182,3).  Godwin 
was  also  the  author  of  a  few  earlier  romances,  but  they  were  Uttle 
known  even  in  his  own  time.  Patil,  his  biographer,  dismisses 
them  with  a  word,  and  Meyer  omits  them  altogether  from  the 
very  comprehensive  bibliography  appended  to  his  thesis.  The 
plots  of  two  of  them  are  outlined  in  Fargeau's  Revue  des  Romans, 
vol.  i.,  pp.  284,  285.  But  they  have  little  significance  for  our 
discussion. 

'  Caleb  Williams  (Frederick  Wame  ed.,  not  dated),  p.  i. 


And  the  English  Novel  93 

The  first  line  strikes  a  keynote:  "My  life  has 
for  several  years  been  a  theatre  of  calamity.  I 
have  been  a  mark  for  .  .  .  etc."  Before  we 
leave  Godwin's  novels  we  shall  be  very  familiar 
with  that  mode  of  introduction.  This  particular 
Jeremiad  might  serve  to  begin  any  one  of  the  others 
equally  well.  Caleb  Williams  is  of  humble  birth 
(a  rather  unusual  circumstance,  for  our  republican 
friend  Godwin  likes  to  write  chiefly  about  people 
of  wealth  and  title) ,  and  has  a  Rousseauistic  educa- 
tion, "free  from  the  usual  sources  of  depravity." 
He  becomes  secretary  to  a  Mr.  Falkland.  Here 
ensues  a  characteristic  description  of  a  recluse. 
Williams's  ciuiosity  being  aroused  concerning  his 
employer,  a  friend  obliges  him  with  a  hundred 
pages  or  so  of  information.  Falkland  was,  it 
seems,  a  young  man  of  great  talents  and  liberal 
culture  (no  "child  of  nature"  when  we  come  to 
the  real  hero,  observe).  He  outshines  a  boorish 
neighbour,  Tyrrel,  thereby  arousing  in  him  implac- 
able hatred.  Falkland  is  warned  against  Tyrrel 
by  a  dying  friend,  Clare,  supposedly  a  portrait 
of  Godwin's  friend  Fawcett,  but  he  is  unable  to 
avoid  continual  entanglements  with  him,  culmin- 
ating in  a  public  insult.  Almost  immediately 
afterwards  Tyrrel  is  assassinated.  Two  of  his 
tenants  are  accused  and  hanged.  Falkland  is 
completely  cleared  but  lives  a  recluse  ever  after, 
nursing  his  wounded  honour.  Here  ends  Collins 's 
account.  Caleb  Williams  promptly  suspects  that 
Falkland's  trouble  is   a  guilty  conscience.     His 


94  The  French  Revolution 

amateur  detective  activities  culminate  when  Falk- 
land catches  him  trying  to  investigate  a  mysteri- 
ous chest.  What  the  chest  contained  the  author 
takes  no  trouble  to  explain,  although  it  seemed 
important  enough  to  Mr.  Colman  to  furnish  the 
title  to  the  play  he  based  on  this  story.'  Like 
the  writers  of  Gothic  romance,  Godwin  seems  to 
think  it  enough  to  concoct  a  riddle;  he  owes  no 
answer  to  his  readers.  But  at  all  events,  Falk- 
land suddenly  changes  his  policy,  confesses  to 
Williams,  and  warns  him  of  the  consequences  of 
his  curiosity.  Falkland's  master  passion  is  a 
desire  for  the  world's  approbation.  He  will  go 
to  any  lengths  to  preserve  his  good  name,  and  he 
proposes  to  keep  Williams  in  his  power  hence- 
forth. After  a  time,  Williams  grows  nervous  and 
tries  to  quit  Falkland's  service.  Then  we  come  to 
the  point  of  the  story.  Williams  discovers  that 
the  laws  are  completely  at  the  service  of  the  power- 
ful, and  that  the  very  machinery  of  justice  can 
be  wrested  to  Falkland's  purposes.  Falkland 
accuses  him  of  theft.  Williams's  protestations 
of  innocence  are  worthless  against  a  man  of 
Falkland's  position.  He  is  imprisoned  pending 
trial. 

This  gives  Godwin  an  opportunity  for  describ- 
ing the  English  penal  system,  and  he  makes  the 
most  of  it.  Here,  to  my  mind,  is  one  of  the  rare 
instances  in  which  Godwin's  eloquence  rings  true. 

'  George  Colman  the  Younger,  The  Iron  Chest,  cf.  Chapter  IX., 
Section  2,  of  this  book. 


And  the  English  Novel  95 

Usually,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  he  is  interested 
in  emotion  for  its  own  sake.  He  taxes  himself 
to  invent  situations  that  may  give  occasion  for 
it.  Consequently  his  elaborate  tirades  seem  to 
us  utterly  insincere  and  wearisome.  Here  he  is 
talking  of  actual  conditions.  He  writes  as  a 
humane  and  intelligent  observer.  And  here, 
without  apparent  effort,  he  attains  to  real  power. 
The  philosopher  and  the  novelist  are  forgotten  for 
the  time;  the  man  Godwin  writes  simply  and 
understandingly  of  the  lives  of  men  in  prison. 
He  shows  us  the  squalid  room,  the  "prison  dirt 
that  speaks  sadness  to  the  heart,"  the  prisoners, 
innocent  and  guilty,  condemned  and  untried, 
herded  together,  the  young  prisoners  learning 
their  trade  from  old  offenders,  the  noisy  appear- 
ance of  mirth  with  ever-present  fear  beneath,  the 
horror  of  the  slow,  monotonous  days  in  lonely 
cells,  and  the  bitterness  that  enters  into  the  soul 
of  a  man  and  makes  him  indeed  an  enemy  of  the 
society  that  has  so  fearfully  wronged  him.  Behind 
the  clear  and  forceful  words  the  moral  earnestness 
of  the  writer  shows  plainly.  The  facts  he  writes 
of,  of  which  he  has  not  told  the  half,  have  been 
improved  since  his  day.  But  when  he  speaks  out 
against  the  system  he  carries  us  with  him  not  by 
force  of  logic  but  by  the  great  spirit  of  humani- 
tarianism  which  belongs  to  all  times. 

"  Thank  God,"  exclaims  the  Englishman,  "we  have 
no  Bastile !     Thank  God,  with  us  no  man  can  be  pun- 


96  The  French  Revolution 

ished  without  a  crime ! ' '  Unthinking  wretch !  Is  that  a 
country  of  liberty,  where  thousands  languish  in  dun- 
geons and  fetters?  Go,  go,  ignorant  fool!  and  visit 
the  scenes  of  our  prisons !  witness  their  unwholesome- 
ness,  their  filth,  the  tyranny  of  their  governors,  the 
misery  of  their  inmates!  After  that,  show  me  the 
man  shameless  enough  to  triumph,  and  say,  England 
has  no  Bastile!  ...  I  have  felt  the  iron  of  slavery  grat- 
ing upon  my  soul.  I  looked  round  upon  my  walls  and 
forward  upon  the  premature  death  I  had  too  much 
reason  to  expect;  and  I  said,  "This  is  society.  This  is 
the  object,  the  distribution  of  justice,  which  is  the 
end  of  human  reason.  For  this  sages  have  toiled,  and 
midnight  oil  has  been  wasted.     This!"^ 

Williams  escapes  from  prison,  and  after  various 
adventures  in  eluding  a  relentless  pursuit,  falls 
in  with  a  band  of  thieves  led  by  a  philosophic  and 
loquacious  person  named  Raymond.  The  phil- 
anthropic brigand,  a  familiar  figure  in  literature 
ever  since  the  days  of  Robin  Hood,  was  an 
especial  favourite  with  the  Romanticists.  It  is 
worth  remarking  that  Schiller's  Die  Rduber  had 
been  translated  into  English  in  1792,  just  two 
years  before  the  publication  of  Caleb  Williams. 
It  may  also  be  remembered  that  notes  for  a  treat- 
ment of  Eugene  Aram  in  that  character  were 
found  among  Godwin's  papers.^  Raymond  pro- 
tects Williams,  recognizing  in  him  a  victim  of 
tyranny.  But  Godwin's  treatment  of  the  brigand 
is  only  half  sympathetic.     He  had  no  notion  of 

'  Caleb  Williams,  p.  80.  '  Patil,  Godwin,  vol.  ii.,  p.  305. 


And  the  English  Novel  97 

changing  society  by  isolated  individual  rebellions, 
and  he  believes  in  an  appeal  to  reason  rather  than 
violence. 

In  one  of  the  brigands  Williams  makes  an 
enemy  who  adds  an  element  of  personal  animosity 
to  the  powers  of  the  law  in  tracking  him  down. 
After  a  prolonged  chase,  Williams  suddenly  turns 
the  tables.  He  boldly  accuses  Falkland  of  mur- 
der, and  they  are  brought  face  to  face  before  a 
court.  There  the  iinexpected  happens.  Wil- 
liams's purpose  fails  on  seeing  how  broken  Falk- 
land is,  and  he  declares  himself  a  miserable  wretch. 
Whereupon  Falkland  confesses  his  crime,  clears 
Williams,  and  dismisses  him,  not  to  live  happily 
ever  after,  but  to  be  a  prey  to  remorse. 

Such  is  the  story  of  Caleb  Williams,  and  such, 
too,  is  the  measure  of  Godwin  as  a  novelist.  He 
never  equalled  his  first  attempt.  Most  of  his 
later  novels  are  here  in  germ ;  situations,  ideas,  and 
characters  repeat  themselves  again  and  again. 
He  searches  laboriously  for  original  plots  and 
explains  conscientiously  in  his  prefaces.  For  his 
was  not  a  facile  vein. 

Caleb  Williams  had  an  immediate  success, 
arousing  a  storm  of  conflicting  criticism.  It  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  significant  novels  of  the 
time.  It  appeared  almost  immediately  in  French 
and  German  translations.  But  there  were  some 
dissenting  voices.  Godwin's  friend  James  Mar- 
shall declares  "the  incidents  ill  chosen,  the 
characters    unnatural,    distorted,    everything    on 


98  The  French  Revolution 

stilts,  the  whole  uninteresting."'  Mrs.  Inchbald, 
another  intimate  friend,  herself  a  novelist,  finds 
it  sublimely  horrible,  captivatingly  frightful."^ 
Hazlitt  {On  English  Novelists)  is  more  discrimi- 
nating. 

There  is  little  knowledge  of  the  world  [he  says], 
little  variety,  neither  an  eye  for  the  picturesque  nor  a 
talent  for  the  humorous  in  Caleb  Williams;  but  you 
cannot  doubt  for  a  moment  of  the  originality  of  the 
work  and  the  force  of  the  conception.  The  impression 
made  upon  the  reader  is  the  exact  measure  of  the 
author's  genius.  ^ 

Later  commentators  are  apt  to  be  still  more 
cautious.  De  Quincey,  reviewing  Gilfillan's  pane- 
gyrics on  the  book,  says:  "Other  men  of  talent 
have  raised  Caleb  Williams  to  a  station  among  the 
first  rank  of  novels,  while  others,  amongst  whom 
I  am  compelled  to  class  myself,  see  in  it  no  merit 
of  any  kind."'' 

Finally,  Sir  Leslie  Stephen  voices  the  criticism 
of  our  own  time: 

Caleb  Williams  can  still  be  read  without  the  pressure 
of  a  sense  of  duty.  It  has  lived — tho'  in  comparative 
obscurity — for  over  a  century — and  must  have  had 
some  of  the  seeds  of  life.    Mysterious  crimes  are  always 

'  Paul,  Godwin,  vol.  ii.,  p.  90.  ^  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  139. 

3  HazUtt,  Collected  Works  (1902),  vol.  viii.,  p.  130. 
*  De  Quincey,  Biographical  Essays  (Fireside  ed.),  vol.  vi.,  p. 
339- 


And  the  English  Novel  99 

interesting.  But  given  the  situation,  and  shutting 
our  eyes  to  impossibilities  Godwin  shows  the  kind  of 
power  manifested  by  Political  Justice.  ^ 

Pressure  of  public  interest  aroused  by  Caleb 
Williams,  to  some  extent  forced  Godwin  to  continue 
his  career  as  a  novelist.  There  is  a  certain  note 
of  hesitancy  in  the  preface  to  St.  Leon,  however, 
that  suggests  that  he  dimly  felt  his  own  limitations. 

I  was  solicited  to  try  my  hand  again  in  a  work  of 
fiction.  I  hesitated  long.  I  despaired  of  finding  a 
topic  again  so  rich  of  interest  and  passion.  At  length, 
after  having  passed  some  years  in  diffidence  and  irreso- 
lution, I  ventured  on  the  task.  It  struck  me  that  if  I 
could  "mix  human  feelings  and  passions  with  in- 
credible situations,"  I  might  thus  attain  a  sort  of 
novelty  that  would  conciliate  the  patience,  at  least,  of 
some  of  the  severest  judges.^ 

The  "incredible  situation"  he  has  hit  upon  is 
nothing  less  than  the  possession  of  the  Philoso- 
pher's Stone  and  the  Elixir  of  Life.  It  is  only  fair  to 
observe,  however,  that  the  subject  was  in  God- 
win's time  neither  so  remote  from  public  interest 
nor  so  hackneyed  as  it  would  be  to-day.  In  the 
second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  "Brother- 
hood of  the  Rosy  Cross"  had  been  revived,  and 
professed  to  have  the  Stone  and  Elixir  in  its  pos- 
session. The  exploits  of  Count  Cagliostro  who 
gave  himself  out  as  their  agent  were  common  talk 

'  Leslie  Stephen,  Studies  of  a  Biographer,  vol.  iii.,  p.  121. 
"  St.  Leon,  vol.  i.,  p.  2. 


100  The  French  Revolution 

within  the  memory  of  Godwin.  Further,  Godwin 
was  the  first  of  his  contemporaries  to  treat  the 
subject,  which  had  enough  life  in  it  to  furnish 
material  later  for  Shelley's  St.  Irvine  and  Bulwer's 
Zanoni,  Strange  Story,  and  a  host  of  others. 

Godwin's  treatment  is,  briefly,  as  follows: 
Count  St.  Leon  is  a  youth  of  great  promise.  He 
conducts  himself  with  gallantry  in  battle,  takes 
a  picturesque  part  at  the  Field  of  Cloth  of  Gold, 
and  proves  himself,  in  short,  quite  the  proper 
hero  for  a  novel.  After  a  brief  whirl  of  dissipa- 
tion— also  quite  the  proper  thing  for  a  hero^ — he 
reforms  and  marries  Marguerite  de  Damville, 
supposedly  intended  for  a  portrait  of  Mary 
Wollstonecraft.  Really  she  is  somewhat  more 
lifelike  than  most  of  the  "exemplary  females" 
who  serve  as  the  pegs  upon  which  Godwin  hangs 
his  love  scenes.  The  ensuing  period  of  domestic 
bliss  is  broken  up  when  St.  Leon  goes  to  Paris  to 
put  his  son  in  a  school — (shades  of  Emile!  what 
heresy!  Could  he  not  afford  a  tutor?)- — and  inci- 
dentally loses  all  his  fortune  at  cards.  Marguerite 
arrives  at  the  critical  moment  to  wind  up  her 
husband's  affairs  for  him  while  he  indulges  in  a 
fit  of  insanity.  The  couple  moralize  exhaustively 
on  the  compensations  of  poverty  (Godwin  had 
tried  it  too  often  himself  to  have  any  delusions 
as  to  its  advantages),  and  betake  themselves 
to  Switzerland,  beloved  of  Romanticists  for  its 
scenery  and  of  Republicans  for  its  government. 
Here  they  settle  down  quite  resignedly  imtil  their 


And  the  English  Novel  loi 

property  is  destroyed  by  a  storm.  Thereupon 
they  are  forcibly  driven  away  by  the  inhabitants. 
Just  why  is  not  clear;  but  mark  the  tyranny  of 
even  a  republican  government.  They  find  an- 
other home  where  they  enjoy  seven  years  of  do- 
mestic happiness.  Godwin  really  does  these  little 
Swiss  Family  Robinson  scenes  very  well.  His 
own  happy  married  life  had  awakened  his  latent 
domesticity.  He  was  genuinely  fond  of  child- 
ren; no  man  who  was  not  could  have  written 
the  preface  to  Baldwin's  Fables. 

To  this  model  family  comes  a  mysterious  stranger 
who  imparts  to  St.  Leon  the  secret  of  eternal 
youth  and  unlimited  wealth.  He  insists  that  St. 
Leon  must  not  reveal  the  process  even  to  his 
wife.  St.  Leon  perceives  that  this  will  mean  the 
end  of  mutual  confidence.  Again,  the  reason  is 
not  clear;  but  the  circumstance  furnishes  oppor- 
tunity for  extended  introspective  moralizing. 

Calamity  after  calamity  follows,  because  St. 
Leon  seems  utterly  unable  to  find  a  plausible 
excuse  for  having  money.  One  becomes  exasper- 
ated at  his  inability  to  construct  a  good  lie.  His 
son  leaves  him,  his  wife  dies  of  grief,  he  is  pursued 
from  place  to  place  by  the  fury  of  mobs.  Finally 
he  settles  his  daughters  on  his  old  estate  and  starts 
out  alone,  a  Byronic  hero  without  the  fascination 
of  Byron. 

He  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  Inquisition,  es- 
capes, rejuvenates  himself,  and  sets  methodically 
about  his  favourite  project  of  benefiting  mankind. 


102  The  French  Revolution 

He  decides  to  finance  a  famine -stricken  Hungarian 
province.  Here  follow  some  very  sound  economic 
reflections  on  gold  actual  versus  wealth;  did  ever 
alchemist  invoke  such  laws  before!  It  really 
begins  to  look  as  though  St.  Leon  were  going  to 
do  something  interesting  at  last.  But  like  all 
Godwin's  heroes  he  is  obsessed  by  the  need  of 
a  confidential  friend.  The  man  he  hits  upon, 
Bethlem  Gabor,  is  one  whose  wrongs  have  made 
him  an  enemy  of  mankind.  Gabor  finds  St.  Leon 
rather  tiresomely  priggish  (we  cannot  blame  him) 
and  imprisons  him.  After  another  long  interlude  of 
moralizing  St.  Leon  is  freed  by  his  son.  This  son  he 
really  does  manage  to  benefit  by  giving  a  dowry  to 
his  sweetheart,  Pandora,  another  "beauteous  fe- 
male." Here  the  book  ends ;  for  no  particular  rea- 
son. But  we  are  too  much  relieved  to  care  for  that. 
This  novel  also  was  a  success,  although  not  so 
decidedly  as  the  first.  Godwin's  friend  Holcroft 
writes  to  him: 

You  have  repeated  to  me  times  innumerable  the 
necessity  of  keeping  characters  in  action  and  never 
sviffering  them  to  sermonize,  yet  of  this  fault  St.  Leon  is 
particularly  found  guilty  by  all  whom  I  have  heard 
speak  of  the  work  .  .  .  yet  men  must  have  arrived  at 
an  uncommon  degree  of  wisdom  when  St.  Leon  shall 
be  no  longer  read.^ 

I  think  we  are  inclined  to  agree  with  the  first  part 
of  Holcroft's  criticism  at  least,  although  modesty 

'  Paul,  Godwin,  vol.  ii.,  p.  25. 


And  the  English  Novel  103 

may  forbid  us  to  claim  for  our  own  age  "an  un- 
common degree  of  wisdom."  For  certainly  St. 
Leon  is  no  longer  read.  Hazlitt  writes:  "St. 
Leon  is  not  equal  in  plot  and  groundwork  to 
Caleb  Williams,  tho  perhaps  superior  to  it  in 
execution."'  It  "ventures  into  the  preternatural 
world,  and  comes  nearer  the  world  of  common 
sense."  Later,  Shelley,  on  Godwin's  saying  that 
writing  another  novel  would  kill  him,  replied  in  a 
burst  of  enthusiasm:  "What  matter,  if  we  have 
another  St.  Leon!"''  But  Sir  Leslie  Stephen  calls 
it  "a  semi-historical  novel,  with  all  manner  of 
improbable  adventures  and  coincidences,  which 
yet  contrives  to  miss  the  moral."  ^  And  we  are 
rather  inclined  to  let  it  go  at  that. 

In  Fleetwood  Godwin  tries  yet  a  third  type  of 
interest.     He  says  in  his  preface: 

Caleb  Williams  was  a  story  of  very  surprising  and 
uncommon  events,  but  which  were  supposed  to  be 
entirely  within  the  laws  and  established  course  of 
nature  as  she  operates  in  the  planet  we  inhabit.  The 
story  of  St.  Leon  is  in  the  miraculous  class,  and  its 
design  to  "mix  human  feelings  and  passions  with 
incredible  situations"^  and  thus  render  them  in- 
credible and  interesting.  The  following  story  consists 
of  such  adventures  as  for  the  most  part  have  occurred 
to  at  least  half  of  the  Englishmen  now  existing  who 
are  of  the  same  rank  of  life  as  my  hero. 

'  Hazlitt,  Collected  Works  (1902),  vol.  viii.,  p.  131. 
'  Hazlitt,  The  English  Novel. 

3  Leslie  Stephen,  Studies  of  a  Biographer,  vol.  iii.,  p.  151. 
1  Fleetwood,  vol.  i.,  p.  v. 


104  The  French  Revolution 

Fleetwood  is  educated  among  the  wild  scenery 
of  Wales  in  a  manner  that  Wordsworth  would 
quite  approve.  He  goes  to  Oxford  a  perfect  young 
Rousseauist,  naturally  benevolent  and  good,  and 
full  of  "sensibility."  He  gets  some  of  the  bloom 
knocked  off  his  benevolence  in  the  student  life 
there.  His  education  finished,  he  goes  to  Paris 
for  the  usual  period  of  dissipation,  like  St.  Leon. 
Then  he  looks  up  an  old  friend  of  his  father's, 
M.  Ruffigny,- — in  Switzerland,  of  course.  This 
M.  Ruffigny  turns  out  to  be  a  Republican  of  the 
old  school,  living  in  a  cottage,  all  virtue  and  sim- 
plicity. He  had  known  Rousseau  personally- — 
the  only  direct  mention  of  him  in  these  novels. 
This  sage  gives  Fleetwood  news  of  the  death  of 
his  father.  Grief  restores  him  to  his  original 
sensibility.  M.  Ruffigny  tells  his  own  story,  per- 
haps as  human  and  enjoyable  a  bit  of  narrative 
as  Godwin  ever  wrote.  He  was  left  an  orphan 
in  the  care  of  the  traditional  wicked  uncle,  who 
appropriates  his  property  and  puts  the  child  into 
the  silk  mills  in  Brussels.  The  description  of  the 
silk  mills  is  to  my  mind  one  of  the  few  really  fine 
passages  in  these  novels.  Here  again,  as  in  the 
prison  passage  in  Caleb  Williams  Godwin  is 
really  interested  in  a  situation  for  its  own  sake, 
not  as  an  excuse  for  an  emotion ;  he  is  looking  out, 
not  in.  Godwin  was  a  man  who  really  loved 
children,  in  spite  of  his  dry  philosophy.  At  the 
very  time  he  was  writing  this,  there  were  chil- 
dren growing  up  about  him — his  own  little  Mary 


And  the  English  Novel  105 

WoUstonecraft,  and  the  stepchildren  of  his  adop- 
tion. He  writes  of  the  children  in  the  mills  with 
a  high  sincerity  and  perfect  naturalness,  for  once, 
too  much  in  earnest  to  sentimentaHze. 

Several  of  the  children  appeared  to  me,  judging 
from  their  size,  to  be  under  four  years  of  age.  I  never 
saw  such  children.  .  .  .  Some  were  not  tall  enough  with 
their  little  arms  to  reach  the  swift;  these  had  stools 
which  they  carried  in  their  hands,  and  mounted  when 
occasion  offered.  They  were  all  sallow;  their  muscles 
flaccid,  and  their  form  emaciated. 

The  child  from  the  moment  of  his  birth  is  an  ex- 
perimental philosopher:  and  it  is  equally  necessary 
for  the  development  of  his  frame  that  his  thoughts  and 
his  body  should  be  free  from  fetters.  But  then  he 
cannot  earn  twelve  sous  a  week.  These  children  were 
uncouth  and  Ul-grown  in  every  limb,  and  were  stiff 
and  decrepit  in  their  carriage,  so  as  to  seem  like  old 
men.  At  four  years  of  age  they  could  earn  salt  to 
their  bread;  but  at  forty,  if  it  were  possible  that  they 
should  live  so  long,  they  could  not  earn  bread  to 
their  salt. 


But  be  it  so!  I  know  that  the  earth  is  the  great 
Bridewell  of  the  universe,  where  spirits  descended  from 
heaven  are  committed  to  drudgery  and  hard  labour. 
Yet  I  should  be  glad  that  our  children,  up  to  a  certain 
age  were  exempt;  sufficient  is  the  hardship  and  sub- 
jection of  their  whole  future  life;  methinks,  even 
Egyptian  taskmasters  would  consent  that  they  should 


io6  The  French  Revolution 

grow  up  in  peace  until  they  had  acquired  the  strength 
necessary  for  substantial  service.^ 

More  than  a  hundred  years  have  passed  since 
Godwin  wrote  that  passage.  Much  that  seemed 
to  his  contemporaries  worthy  of  admiration  serve 
only  to  amuse  or  bore  us  now.  But  this  is  modem. 
To  our  shame  be  it  said,  it  might  be  incorporated 
as  it  stands  in  the  next  report  of  the  National 
Committee  on  Child  Labour. 

From  this  mill  the  child  Ruffigny  makes  his 
escape,  and  wanders  to  Versailles  in  search  of  the 
king- — a  pathetic  little  figure  that  Dickens  would 
have  loved.  He  finds  that  the  king  is  not  as  he 
had  fancied,  the  father  of  his  people.  But  he 
attracts  the  notice  of  Ambrose  Fleetwood,  grand- 
father of  our  hero,  who  takes  him  to  England  and 
brings  him  up  as  the  companion  and  equal  of 
his  own  son.  Ruffigny  makes  a  fortune,  saves 
his  foster-brother  from  bankruptcy,  and  retires 
to  his  native  country  to  live,  as  we  found  him, 
"a  Republican  of  the  old  model." 

At  the  news  of  his  father's  death,  Fleetwood 
shows  his  "sensibility,"  like  the  typical  hero  of 
the  period,  by  an  utter  absence  of  restraint  and  a 
long  tirade  against  the  heartless  stoicism  of  any 
self-control.  Ruflfigny  accompanies  his  protege  on 
his  return  to  England,  but,  finding  him  again 
drifting  into  dissipation,  leaves  him.  This  effect- 
ively sobers  Fleetwood.     He  retires  to  Wales  and 

'  Fleetwood,  vol.  i.,  pp.  164-68. 


And  the  English  Novel  107 

"the  pleasures  of  memory  and  imagination." 
But  he  is  lonely:  he  desires  a  friend  after  the 
Romantic  pattern.  For,  like  most  egoists,  God- 
win's heroes  bore  themselves  fearfully  when  left 
alone.  He  goes  to  London  and  mingles  with  li- 
terary men.  At  the  age  of  forty,  he  meets  a 
delightful  family  named  MacNeil,  and  falls  in 
love  with  the  youngest  daughter,  Mary.  The 
others  go  on  a  voyage  and  are  lost  at  sea. 
Fleetwood  marries  Mary,  whose  attractions  are 
enhanced  by  her  grief  and  "sensibility."  He 
resolves  to  devote  himself  to  consoling  her.  But 
he  finds  it  hard  to  adjust  his  old-bachelor  ways 
to  even  a  well-loved  young  wife.  (Query:  is  this 
autobiography?)  He  invites  two  young  kins- 
men to  visit  him.  One,  Kenrick,  is  virtuous  and 
lovable;  the  other,  Gifford,  is  a  perfectly  conven- 
tional stage  villain  after  the  model  of  lago.  The 
obvious  misunderstanding  ensues.  Gifford  con- 
trives to  make  Fleetwood  jealous.  He  banishes 
his  wife,  disinherits  his  child,  and  starts  divorce 
proceedings.  Mary  protests  her  innocence  and 
vows  she  will  never  see  Fleetwood  again.  But 
matters  are  cleared  up.  She  forgives  him  in 
spite  of  her  vow,  he  is  properly  remorseful,  "and 
they  all  lived  happily  ever  after." 

Not  a  very  powerful  novel,  certainly.  Godwin 
never  had  the  gift  of  writing  of  the  real  doings  of 
real  people  so  as  to  make  them  live  and  hold  our 
interest.  Nevertheless,  to  my  mind  this  is  one  of 
the  pleasantest  of  his  novels.     There  is  less  strain- 


io8  The  French  Revolution 

ing  after  effect,  and  there  are  some  really  likable 
people  in  it;  Ruffigny,  for  instance,  and  the  girl- 
wife  Mary. 

In  the  preface  to  his  next  novel,  Mandeville 
(1817),  Godwin  gives  as  his  sources  Joanna  Baillie's 
De  Montfort  and  Wieland  by  C.  B.  Brown  of 
Pennsylvania.^  There  is  a  historical  background 
of  the  time  of  Cromwell,  but  it  is  handled  rather 
perfunctorily.  The  story  begins  with  a  massacre 
in  Ireland  in  which  Mandeville's  parents  are 
killed  when  he  is  a  child  of  three.  He  is  saved  by 
his  nurse  and  brought  up  in  the  desolate  seacoast 
manor  of  a  misanthropic  invalid  imcle.  Mande- 
ville's tutor  is  a  bigoted  Presbyterian  clergyman 
who  trains  him  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord  and  im- 
placable hatred  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Godwin 
writes  of  the  horrors  of  theology  from  experience. 
The  dark  childhood  of  the  little  Mandeville,  "who 
never  was  a  boy,"  is  drawn  with  a  masterly  stroke. 
Godwin  is  a  thorough  believer  in  environment  as 
an  influence  in  the  formation  of  character.  He 
misses  no  detail  contributing  to  the  gloomy  con- 
sistency at  which  he  aims.  This  novel  is  really 
a  study  in  abnormal  psychology. 

The  Reverend  Hilkiah's  nagging  severity 
crushes  the  natural  self-confidence  of  his  pupil, 
producing  in  its  place  a  rankling  self-conscious 
pride.  The  one  bright  spot  in  Mandeville's  life 
is  a  visit  from  his  sister  who  is  growing  up  in  a 
happier  environment.     After  a  time  young  Man- 

'  Preface  to  Mandeville,  p.  ix;  De  Montfort,  pub.  1798. 


And  the  English  Novel  109 

deville  is  sent  to  school.  Here  the  results  of  his 
abnormal  childhood  and  unfortunate  disposition 
appear.  His  egoism  is  intense.  Behind  a  mo- 
rose and  repellent  manner  festers  a  morbid  self- 
consciousness.  He  is  obsessed  with  a  desire  for 
admiration.  A  schoolmate,  Clifford,  wins  easily 
the  popularity  Mandeville  longs  for,  and  he  hates 
him  with  a  jealous  intensity.  He  sees  the  un- 
reasonableness of  this  with  painful  clearness;  but 
his  hatred  becomes  a  mania.  Accidents  in- 
crease it.  Mandeville  is  falsely  accused  of  having 
an  anti-royalist  book  in  his  possession.  Clifford 
presides  at  his  trial.  Later,  at  the  university 
Mandeville  is  promised  a  secretaryship  to  a 
royalist  leader  only  to  find  that  the  place  had 
previously  been  assigned  to  Clifford. 

Mandeville  retires  from  the  Cause.  To  his 
diseased  imagination  it  seems  that  he  is  perma- 
nently disgraced.  A  fit  of  madness  ensues.  He  is 
nursed  to  health  by  his  sister  who  tries  to  reconcile 
him  to  Clifford.  Clifford  does  all  in  his  power 
to  humble  himself  and  appease  Mandeville.  But 
circumstances  continually  throw  them  together 
and  Mandeville  cannot  endure  seeing  the  admira- 
tion his  rival  wins.  It  soon  appears  that  Clifford 
is  betrothed  to  Mandeville's  sister.  The  rest  of 
the  book  is  a  melancholy  record  of  mania.  The 
climax  is  reached  when  with  the  acuteness  of 
a  deranged  mind  Mandeville  discovers  that  his 
own  bride  is  related  to  Clifford.  His  violent  re- 
proaches cause  her  death;   he  goes   in   search  of 


no  The  French  Revolution 

Clifford  and  finds  him  at  her  grave.  They  fight, 
and  both  are  killed. 

So  ends  a  sombre,  powerful,  tedious  novel. 
The  character  of  Mandeville  is  developed  with 
painfully  minute  consistency.  But  we  feel  that 
the  author  has  no  right  to  trouble  us  with  the 
psychology  of  such  a  person  on  any  terms.  The 
method  is  introspection  carried  beyond  the  verge 
of  sanity.  It  needs  the  light  touch  of  a  Meredith 
to  anatomize  an  egoist;  even  then  it  is  not  a 
pleasant  picture. 

Strange  to  say,  this  novel  found  a  warm  admirer 
in  no  less  a  person  than  Shelley.     He  writes : 

It  is  of  that  irresistible  and  overwhelming  kind  that 
the  mind  in  its  influence  is  like  a  cloud  borne  by  an 
impetuous  wind.  In  style  and  strength  of  expression 
Mandeville  is  wonderfully  great,  and  the  energy  and 
sweetness  of  its  sentiments  can  scarcely  be  equalled.^ 

Though  Godwin's  last  two  novels  are  passed 
over  by  most  commentators  as  mere  pot-boilers, 
I  must  confess  that  I  see  in  them  no  falling  off. 
But  as  the  others  have  been  discussed  in  consider- 
able detail,  perhaps  these  two  may  be  somewhat 
more  briefly  treated. 

The  preface  to  Cloudsley  gives  a  rather  fanciful 
statement  of  its  origin :       ^. 

When  I  wrote  Caleb  Williams  I  considered  it  as  in 
some  measure  a  paraphrase  on  the  story  of  Bluebeard 

'  Leslie  Stephen,  Studies  of  a  Biographer,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  138-39. 


And  the  English  Novel  m 

by  Charles  Perrault.  The  present  pubHcation  may 
in  the  same  sense  be  denominated  a  paraphrase  on  the 
old  ballad  of  the  Children  in  the  Wood.  ^ 

At  first  sight  it  suggests  rather  a  paraphrase  on 
the  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment,  or  on  a 
Chinese  "nest  of  boxes";  a  story  within  a  story 
within  a  story,  and  all  in  the  first  person  until  one 
forgets  which  "I"  is  supposed  to  be  speaking. 

Briefly,  the  plot  is  as  follows:  Meadows,  son 
of  poor  parents,  becomes  a  sailor,  is  abandoned 
in  Russia,  incurs  the  enmity  of  the  powers  there 
by  falling  in  love  in  the  wrong  place,  is  banished, 
and  comes  home  looking  for  employment.  Lord 
Richard  Danvers  engages  his  services  for  a  dan- 
gerous mission,  with  the  following  confession: 
Richard  was  a  younger  son;  his  elder  brother  was 
killed  in  a  duel,  leaving  his  wife  in  Richard's  care. 
She  dies  at  the  birth  of  her  son.  Richard  appro- 
priates the  estate,  giving  the  child,  Julian,  to  an 
accomplice  named  Cloudsley  to  be  brought  up 
in  obscurity.  Richard  marries  and  has  four 
children.  But  the  children  die  one  after  another 
of  a  mysterious  curse.  Richard  is  troubled  by 
his  guilty  conscience.  Meanwhile  Cloudsley  has 
taken  Julian  to  Italy  and  brought  him  up  as 
his  own  son.  But  Cloudsley  too  is  troubled  with 
remorse.  He  goes  to  England  to  remonstrate 
with  Richard.  Julian  in  his  father's  absence 
quite  innocently  falls  in  with  a  company  of  ban- 

'  Cloudsley,  vol.  i.,  p.  iv. 


112  The  French  Revolution 

ditti.  (Once  more  otir  old  friend  the  philosophic 
brigand  appears.)  These  accidentally  kill  Cloud- 
sley  on  his  return. 

The  mission  Lord  Danvers  assigns  to  Meadows 
is  to  go  in  search  of  Julian  and  bring  him  to  Eng- 
land to  restore  him  to  his  estate.  Meadows 
arrives  in  Italy  just  in  time  to  save  Julian  from 
being  executed  with  the  brigands  and  brings  him 
back  in  triimiph.  Lord  Danvers  abdicates  in 
his  favour.  Meadows  is  retained  as  confidential 
adviser. 

The  last  of  Godwin's  novels,  Deloraine  is  allied 
in  its  general  scheme  to  the  first.  It  is  the  story 
of  a  murder  and  a  long  and  fantastic  flight  from 
the  law.  Deloraine  is  a  brilliant  young  nobleman. 
After  some  years  of  ideal  married  life  his  wife 
dies  and  his  only  daughter,  Catherine,  goes  to  live 
with  friends  on  the  continent.  Deloraine  falls 
in  love  a  second  time,  with  a  young  woman' — I 
beg  her  pardon,  a  "female  of  exquisite  sensibility" 
— who  has  been  crossed  in  love.  Her  accepted 
lover  William  was  lost  at  sea.  Deloraine  falls  in 
love  with  her  melancholy,  and  she  marries  him 
to  please  her  parents.  He  becomes  very  unhappy 
because  his  wife  does  not  return  his  love. 

William,  the  lost  lover,  was  not  dead  after  all. 
He  appears  most  inopportunely  in  search  of  Mar- 
garet. Finding  them  together,  Deloraine  in  a 
fit  of  insane  jealousy  shoots  William.  Margaret 
dies  of  shock  (or  more  properly,  of  the  author's 
desire  to  get  her  out  of  the  story),  and  Deloraine 


And  the  English  Novel  113 

accompanied  by  his  devoted  daughter  begins  a 
long  flight  from  justice.  Here  too  the  arm  of  the 
law  is  reinforced  by  personal  vindictiveness.  A 
friend  of  William's  dedicates  himself  to  aveng- 
ing the  miirder.  The  chase  leads  them  all  over 
Europe,  into  an  abandoned  castle  on  the  Rhine 
in  true  Gothic  romance  style,  ending  only  when 
Deloraine  in  despair  returns  to  England  to  give 
himself  up.  This  Catherine  prevents  by  going  to 
their  pursuer  and  appealing  to  his  reason  and  mag- 
nanimity. This  device  is  as  successful  as  it  was  in 
Caleb  Williams.  Deloraine  is  permitted  to  retire 
with  his  daughter  to  live  in  contented  obscurity. 

Whatever  was  the  secret  of  the  success  of  these 
novels  whose  road  to  oblivion  was  beset  by  so 
many  contradictory  estimates,  it  certainly  was 
not  Godwin's  ability  to  tell  a  story.  His  plots 
are  poorly  constructed  and  worse  managed.  God- 
win is  in  his  literary  ideas  a  Sentimentalist;  he  is 
interested  in  feeling  for  its  own  sake.  He  seems 
laboriously  to  invent  a  situation  merely  as  a  peg 
on  which  to  hang  an  emotional  paroxysm.  We 
are  perfectly  ready  to  be  interested  in  a  novel  of 
psychology  rather  than  of  incident,  if  the  author 
chooses;  but  even  on  those  terms  we  feel  that  the 
motivation  is  inadequate,  the  emotion  insincere, 
and  the  psychology  unsound.  Godwin's  style, 
however,  we  can  praise  with  a  clear  conscience. 
It  is  clear,  direct,  easy  to  read;  simple,  yet  with  a 
sustained  dignity  of  manner ;  the  style  of  a  logician 
rather  than  of  an  artist. 

8 


114  The  French  Revolution 

In  recalling  these  six  novels,  one  is  struck  by  a 
certain  similarity  of  impression.  The  theme,  in 
spite  of  Godwin's  conscious  efforts  not  to  repeat 
himself,  does  not  vary  greatly.  It  has  been  de- 
fined by  some  of  his  commentators  as  "Man,  the 
enemy  of  man,"  or,  "The  Victim  of  Society." 
I  prefer  to  call  it  "The  Sentimental  Individualist," 
or,  "The  Egoist."  The  type-hero  is  usually  a 
man  of  considerable  talents,  all  the  advantages  of 
birth  and  breeding,  and  a  disposition  of  Rousseau- 
istic  benevolence.  Like  all  egoists,  he  is  totally 
dependent  on  the  approbation  of  his  world.  This 
takes  two  forms ;  a  craving  for  general  admiration, 
and  the  need  of  a  very  exclusive  and  exacting  type 
of  friendship.  This  latter  he  speaks  of  always  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  one  receiving,  not  of  the 
one  giving.  Usually  he  passes  through  a  period 
of  ideal  married  life.  Caleb  Williams  is  the  excep- 
tion, of  course,  being  written  under  the  influence 
of  the  ideas  in  Political  Justice.  But  the  next 
novel  is  frankly  a  recantation  of  Godwin's  earlier 
attitude  towards  domestic  life.  Before  St.  Leon 
was  written,  he  had  married  Mary  Wollstonecraft 
and  learned  a  great  many  things.  Godwin's 
characters  are  all  more  or  less  lay  figures,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  type-hero;  but  women 
compare  very  favourably  with  the  men  in  point 
of  reality.  They  are  all  tiresomely  good  and 
monotonously  beautiful,  but  occasionally  they 
show  considerable  force  of  character.  St.  Leon's 
Marguerite    and   Deloraine's   Catherine,  for    in- 


And  the  English  Novel  115 

stance,  take  charge  of  very  trying  situations  and 
manage  their  respective  husband  and  father  quite 
efficiently.  Godwin  always  succeeds  better  in 
treating  domestic  affection  than  in  passionate 
love  episodes.  Some  of  his  pictures  of  married 
friendship  are  rather  fine.  Surely  when  Dick- 
ens and  Scott  make  most  of  their  heroines  prigs, 
we  may  pardon  Godwin. 

The  type-hero  puts  an  end  to  his  own  possibility 
of  happiness  by  some  crime  or  act  of  folly,  con- 
cerning which  he  moralizes  morbidly,  but  into 
which  he  is  forced,  apparently  by  his  own  nature 
when  circumstances  present  the  occasion.  ^  The  re- 
mainder of  his  life  is  involved  in  the  consequences, 
external  and  internal.  The  nature  of  this  domi- 
nant characteristic  and  the  resultant  act  varies. 
It  is  Falkland's  obsession  of  ''honour"  and  his 
murder  of  Tyrrel;  Williams's  curiosity  and  his 
prying  into  the  chest;  St.  Leon's  desire  for  wealth 
and  his  acceptance  of  the  stone  and  elixir;  Fleet- 
wood's desire  to  monopolize  the  entire  attention 
of  his  young  wife  and  his  yielding  to  jealousy; 
Mandeville's  craving  for  admiration  and  his 
hatred  of  Clifford;  Richard's  wish  to  be  Lord 
Danvers,  and  his  wrong  to  his  brother's  child; 
Deloraine's  longing  for  Margaret's  love,  and  his 
shooting  of  William. 

In  all  these  cases,  be  it  observed,  the  type- 
hero  is  not  the  victim  of  society  primarily,  but 
of  his  own  character.     Godwin's  view  of  society 

'  Godwin  is  a  necessarian,  with  a  Calvinist  training. 


ii6  The  French  Revolution 

enters  into  his  novels  (excepting  of  course  the 
first),  only  incidentally.  Even  in  Caleb  Williams 
we  should  hardly  recognize  social  theory  as  the 
main  purpose  if  it  were  not  for  the  preface  and 
the  sub-title.  But  we  catch  occasional  glimpses 
of  the  author  of  Political  Justice.  The  point 
oftenest  emphasized  is  the  fallacy  of  regarding 
our  judicial  system  as  impartial  or  just  to  the 
individual.  We  have  already  considered  the  treat- 
ment of  this  subject  in  Caleb  Williams;  the  same 
ideas  are  glanced  at  in  all  the  others. 

Economic  theories  are  discussed  specifically  in 
one  place  only:  St.  Leon's  attempt  at  improving 
the  condition  in  Hungary  by  using  his  gold  as  a 
lever  to  start  the  production  of  real  wealth.  But 
the  Swiss  Ruffigny  exemplifies  in  his  conduct  God- 
win's theory  of  justice  in  the  matter  of  property 
rights.  In  Political  Justice  Godwin  declares  that 
the  individual's  rights  over  property  are  of  three 
sorts:  (i)  each  man  has  a  right  to  the  means  of 
subsistence,  and  to  that  portion  of  the  general 
goods  which  will  yield  its  maximum  of  pleasure 
by  being  appropriated  to  his  use;  (2)  he  has  a 
right  of  stewardship  over  that  property  which  he 
produces;  (3)  his  ownership  of  property  such  as 
lands,  and  capital  in  general  is  recognized  for  the 
present,  because  any  system  is  preferable  to  the 
chaos  that  would  ensue  if  every  man  appropriated 
what  he  thought  he  had  a  right  to.  Ruffigny, 
it  will  be  remembered,  makes  a  fortune  by  his 
own  ability  and  industry,  and  proposes  to  retire  on 


And  the  English  Novel  117 

a  reasonable  income  regarding  himself  as  merely 
a  steward  of  the  rest  to  be  used  for  others.  But 
he  is  satisfied  to  make  over  his  surplus  to  a  single 
individual,  his  friend,  instead,  in  order  that  that 
friend  may  continue  in  the  position  of  a  capitalist 
to  which  he  is  accustomed. 

A  further  point  upon  which  numerous  passages 
may  be  found  in  the  novels  of  Godwin  is  education. 
Here  more  than  ever  one  catches  echoes  of  a 
greater  individualist,  Rousseau.  The  child  is  to 
be  interested,  drawn  out;  on  no  account  is  his 
spontaneity  to  be  repressed.  But  Godwin  had 
been  a  fairly  successful  tutor  and  had  also  brought 
up  children  of  his  own,  which  Rousseau  never  did; 
so  there  are  hints  of  discipline  here  and  there  which 
would  have  shocked  the  author  of  Emile. 

But  it  is  in  his  general  attitude  toward  culture 
that  we  find  the  greatest  divergence  between 
Godwin  and  the  pure  Rousseauists.  Godwin 
does  not  regard  civilization  as  the  sole  source  of 
corruption;  he  cherishes  no  delusion  of  the  noble 
savage  in  an  ideal  state  of  nature.  Perhaps  his 
early  Calvinism  had  eaten  into  his  soul  too  deeply. 
At  all  events,  he  is  out  of  harmony  with  the  school 
of  inspired  ignorance,  as  the  following  passage 
shows;  Marguerite  tells  St.  Leon  she  is  reconciled 
to  poverty : 

But  she  could  never  bring  herself  to  believe  that 
ignorance  was  a  benefit.  She  wished  her  children 
to  attain  intellectual   refinements,   possess  fully  the 


ii8  The  French  Revolution 

attributes  of  a  rational  nature,  and  be  as  far  removed 
as  possible  from  the  attributes  of  stocks  and  stones, 
by  accumulating  a  magazine  of  thoughts  and  a  rich 
and  cultivated  sensibility/ 

So  far,  our  treatment  of  Godwin  as  a  novelist 
seems  to  have  been  devoted  entirely  to  the  ungra- 
cious task  of  pointing  out  his  failings.  But  if  it 
is  true,  as  Hazlitt  says,  that:  "The  impression 
made  upon  the  readers  is  the  exact  measure  of 
the  author's  genius,"  then  we  must  allow  these 
novels  some  tinge  of  greatness.  They  have  un- 
doubtedly in  parts  a  sombre  power.  They  pro- 
duce in  the  reader  a  sense  of  oppressive,  morose 
intensity;  a  force  of  individualism  verging  toward 
that  evil  borderland  of  reason  whereon  mania 
casts  its  first  faint  shadow  of  unwholesomeness. 
The  very  dullness  of  the  minute  introspective 
analyses  adds  to  the  effect.  For  there  is  no  depth 
of  soul-weariness  like  a  Cosmos  filled  with  Ego. 

It  will  doubtless  be  objected  that  this  very 
unsympathetic  treatment  of  William  Godwin's 
personality  leaves  unexplained  the  strong  influ- 
ence which  he  undoubtedly  exerted  over  some  of 
the  finest  minds  of  his  time.  By  no  means. 
William  Godwin  was  a  powerful  reasoner,  with 
a  gift  for  clear  and  forcible  argument.  Certain 
revolutionary  principles  he  foimd  ready  to  his 
hand  in  the  works  of  earlier  French  and  English 

'  St.  Leon,  vol.  i.,  p.  i8o. 


And  the  English  Novel  119 

philosophers.  To  these  he  added  certain  ideas 
gathered  from  theologians  like  Jonathan  Edwards, 
and  carried  the  resultant  theories  to  their  extreme 
conclusions  with  a  grim,  irresistible  logic.  His 
only  original  contribution  to  Revolutionism  was 
an  unconscious  reductio  ad  absurdum.  Never- 
theless, Political  Justice  is  an  eminently  reasonable 
book;  much  more  reasonable  than  life  ever  is. 
Moreover,  it  is  written  in  a  style  that  carries 
conviction.  It  is  only  when  one  deserts  the 
methods  of  logic  for  those  of  common  sense  that 
its  absurdity  appears. 

This  very  forcible  work  might,  however,  have 
remained  unknown  outside  the  circle  of  logic- 
chopping  metaphysicians  but  for  one  important 
fact.  It  came  at  a  time  when  the  age  was  ready 
for  it.  It  was,  as  we  have  seen,  one  of  a  large 
group  of  books  expressing  similar  philosophies, 
all  of  which  found  their  audience  awaiting  them. 
Of  this  group  Political  Justice  was  the  most  ex- 
treme, though  not  the  most  representative.  Hence 
its  pre-eminence. 

Political  Justice  stands  alone  among  William 
Godwin's  works;  a  book  dominated  by  rather 
than  dominating  the  spirit  of  the  time.  It  is  safe 
to  say  he  could  not  have  written  it  in  any  other 
year.  During  the  period  of  the  Reaction  he 
employed  himself  in  writing  novels  which  are, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  creatures  of  literary  senti- 
mentalism,  touched  only  with  an  afterglow  of 
Revolutionary  ideals. 


120  The  French  Revolution 

SECTION   2  :   THE  YOUNG  SHELLEY 

One  does  not   usually  think  of  Shelley   as    a 
novelist.     In  fact  one  is  apt  not  to  think  of  him  as 
anything  but  a  poet.     That  is  indeed  all-inclusive 
if  one's  conception  of  poetry  is  high  enough.     Too 
often  however  poet  and  thinker  are  used  as  sepa- 
rate terms,  with  an  implication  that  to  the  poet's 
imaginative  and  emotional  appeal  a  sound  intel- 
lectual  basis   is   unessential.     From   criticism  of 
this  type  no  poet,  perhaps,  has  suffered  more  than 
Shelley.     In  his  own  time  his  poetry  was  con- 
demned because  of  the  underlying  doctrine,  but 
at  least  it  was  taken  seriously.     Now  criticism 
has  gone  to  the  other  extreme.     The  poetry  is 
accepted,  the  doctrine  patronized  or  apologized 
for.     We  are  all  so  obsessed  with  Matthew  Ar- 
nold's  fine   phrase   for   Shelley — "Beautiful   and 
ineffectual  angel,   beating  in   the  void  with  his 
luminous  wings — in  vain"- — that  we  quite  forget 
to  listen  fairly  to  what  Shelley  may  have  to  say 
for  himself.     Perhaps,  then,  by  way  of  restoring 
the  balance,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  turn  for  a  little 
from  Shelley  the  poet  to  that  yotinger  and  almost 
imknown  Shelley  before  the  publication  oiAlastor, ' 
whose  work  consisted  chiefly  of  radical  pamphlets 
and  prose  romances. 

'  Alastor,  1816.  Shelley's  first  poetical  work  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  lost  juvenilia  and  Queen  Mab,  which  he  afterwards 
wished  to  repudiate.  The  poet  Shelley  belongs  to  a  period  rather 
later  than  the  one  under  discussion.  But  Shelley  the  noveUst  and 
pamphleteer  was  still  living  under  the  shadow  of  the  Revolution. 


And  the  English  Novel  121 

Only  two  of  the  novels  of  Shelley  were  com- 
pleted: Zastrozzi  (18 10)  and  St.  Irvyne  (181 1). 
These  are  of  interest  chiefly  as  they  may  serve 
to  mark  the  progress  of  the  poet's  mind.  They 
are  extraordinary  only  as  the  work  of  a  school- 
boy of  eighteen.  We  may  perhaps  pause  for  a 
moment  to  siimmarize  them. 

The  action  in  Zastrozzi  centres  in  three  persons : 
Verezzi,  a  young  nobleman ;  Matilda,  a  lady  who  is 
infatuated  with  him  and  to  whom  he  is  indifferent ; 
and  Zastrozzi,  a  mysterious  stranger  who  pursues 
Verezzi  with  relentless  hatred.  Zastrozzi  aids 
Matilda  to  win  Verezzi's  love  by  a  deception, 
using  her  as  the  (unconscious)  means  of  reducing 
him  to  despair  and  suicide.  Zastrozzi  is  seized 
by  the  Inquisition  and  accepts  torture  with  calm 
defiance,  saying  that  his  life  was  dedicated  to  the 
task  of  avenging  on  Verezzi  a  wrong  done  to  his 
mother. '' 

St.  Irvyne,  or  the  Rosicrucian  has  two  plots,  very 
superficially  connected,  i.  A  young  lady  is  cap- 
tured by  bandits.  One  of  them,  Wolf  stein,  kills 
the  captain  and  rescues  her.  They  escape  by  the 
aid  of  a  mysterious  stranger,  Ginotti,  who  there- 
after possesses  a  powerful  influence  over  Wolf  stein. 
It  appears  that  Ginotti  possesses  the  gift  of  eternal 

'  Dr.  Hancock  {French  Revolution  and  the  English  Poets,  p.  52) 
says:  "  Zastrozzi  is  his  (Shelley's)  ideal  of  a  virtuous  man. "  This 
is  hardly  a  fair  interpretation.  Zastrozzi  is  merely  the  conven- 
tional villain  of  the  time.  He  is  described  as:  "A  soul  deadened 
by  crime"  {Zastrozzi,  p.  73),  which  was  hardly  Shelley's  ideal  of 
virtue. 


122  The  French  Revolution 

life  and  can  only  end  his  wretched  existence  by 
inducing  another  to  accept  it.  He  imparts  the 
secret  to  Wolf  stein,  but  Wolf  stein  refuses  to  com- 
plete the  transaction  by  "denying  his  Creator." 
Thereupon  fiends  kill  Wolfstein  and  carry  Ginotti 
living  to  eternal  torment.  2.  The  other  plot  is 
merely  the  story  of  a  girl  who  has  fallen  under  the 
fascination  of  one  Nempere,  who,  it  is  explained 
at  the  end,  was  Ginotti  under  another  name. 

Shelley  says  of  these  novels  in  a  letter  to  Godwin 
in  1812^: 

I  was  haunted  with  a  passion  for  the  wildest  and 
most  extravagant  romances.  .  .  .  From  a  reader,  I 
became  a  writer  of  romances ;  before  the  age  of  seven- 
teen I  had  published  two,  St.  Irvyne  and  Zastrozzi, 
each  of  which,  though  quite  uncharacteristic  of  me  as 
I  now  am  yet  serves  to  mark  the  state  of  my  mind 
at  the  period  of  their  composition. 

Describing  the  change  effected  in  him  by  the 
reading  of  Political  Justice,  he  adds : 

I  was  no  longer  the  votary  of  romance:  till  then  I 
had  existed  in  an  ideal  world — now  I  found  that  in  this 
universe  of  ours  was  enough  to  excite  the  interest  of 
the  heart,  enough  to  employ  the  discussion  of  reason. 
.  .  .  You  will  perceive  that  Zastrozzi  and  St.  Irvyne 
were  written  prior  to  my  acquaintance  with  your 
writings.  I  had  indeed  read  St.  Leon  before  I  wrote 
St.  Irvyne,  but  the  reasonings  had  then  made  little 
impression. 

'  Dowden,  Life  of  Shelley,  vol.  i.,  pp.  220-25. 


And  the  English  Novel  123 

From  this  it  is  clear  that  we  need  look  for  no 
conscious  social  theorizing  in  these  early  romances. 
Both  have  heroes  of  a  type  very  common  in  the 
age  immediately  following  the  Revolution;  the 
mysterious  defiant  outcast  from  society.  This 
is  the  type  of  titanism  which  later  became  some- 
what identified  in  England  with  the  poetry  of 
Byron,  Its  source,  however,  is  to  be  found  among 
the  German  Romanticists.  Shelley's  treatment 
of  Zastrozzi  and  Ginotti  is  in  no  way  character- 
istic. At  most,  they  merely  indicate  the  appeal 
of  this  type  to  a  young  individualist  in  a  state  of 
schoolboy  revolt  against  authority. 

In  this  connection  a  suggestion  in  Buxton 
Forman's  preface^  becomes  significant.  On  the 
ground  of  certain  references  in  letters  and  certain 
internal  evidence  of  phraseology,  he  believes  that 
these  are  not  original  compositions,  but  adapta- 
tions and  translations  from  the  German. 

There  is  mention  of  several  other  novels  which 
were  planned  and  even  begun,  at  about  this  time. 
Among  them  was  "a  fragment  of  wild  romance 
about  a  witch,"  begun  in  conjunction  with  Medwin 
about  the  beginning  of  1809  and  "a  novel  which 
was  to  be  the  deathblow  to  intolerance,  projected 
at  the  end  of  1810."^ 

But  the  only  fragment  of  unfinished  novel  which 
remains  to  us  is  The  Assassins,  written  in  Switzer- 
land in  1 8 14. 

■  Works  of  Shelley,  Forman  ed.,  vol.  v.,  pp.  xii  f. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  xxvii. 


124  The  French  Revolution 

The  Assassins  are  described  as  an  ancient  tribe 
of  Christians  driven  into  exile  at  the  fall  of  Jeru- 
salem. They  take  refuge  in  the  beautiful  valley  of 
Bethzatanai,  where  they  live  for  generations  in  the 
loving  communism  of  the  Golden  Age.  Gradually 
their  religious  beliefs  are  modified,  "corresponding 
with  the  exalted  condition  of  their  being."  They 
"esteem  understanding  to  be  the  paramount  rule 
of  conduct."'  Shelley  comments  on  the  extent 
to  which  the  sincere  directness  of  such  a  people 
would  be  at  variance  with  the  time-serving  poli- 
cies of  civilized  society.  "No  Assassin  would 
submissively  temporize  with  vice  and  in  cold 
charity  become  a  pandar  to  falsehood  and  desola- 
tion."^ 

Albedir,  a  member  of  this  gentle  tribe,  wander- 
ing in  the  forest  finds  a  man  impaled  among  the 
branches  of  a  cedar,  and  watched  by  a  serpent  and 
a  vultiire.  He  overhears  a  part  of  a  titanic 
soliloquy : 

The  great  tyrant  is  baffled  even  in  success!  Joy! 
Joy !  to  his  tortured  foe !  Triumph  to  the  worm  whom 
he  tramples  under  his  feet !  .  .  .  Thousands  tremble 
before  thy  throne  who  at  my  voice  shall  dare  to  pluck 
the  golden  crown  from  thine  unholy  head !' 

The  Stranger  calls  to  Albedir  in  a  voice  "as  the 
voice  of  a  beloved  friend."     "  In  the  name  of  God, 

'  Works  of  Shelley,  vol.  vi.,  p.  229.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  232. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  235 


And  the  English  Novel  125 

approach.  He  that  suffered  me  to  fall  watches 
thee; — the  gentle  and  merciful  spirits  of  sweet 
human  love  delight  not  in  agony  and  horror."' 
Albedir  bears  the  stranger  to  his  home  and  cares 
for  him  tenderly.  The  fragment  ends  with  a 
picture  of  the  two  children  of  Albedir  playing  by 
the  lake  with  a  tame  serpent.  "The  girl  sang  to 
it  and  it  leaped  into  her  bosom  and  she  crossed  her 
fair  hands  over  it  as  if  to  cherish  it  there." ^ 

In  this  fragment  there  are  foreshadowings  of 
Prometheus  and  of  Cythna.     Forman  says  of  it : 

Intellectual  brilliancy,  earnestness,  great  ease  in  the 
use  of  rhetoric,  and  an  egregious  practical  energy  are 
already  among  the  qualities  to  be  credited  to  Shelley. 
But  in  the  Assassins  there  is  a  touch  of  a  new  quality, — 
trace  of  an  infinite  yearning  over  the  miseries  of 
suffering  humanity,  the  divine  tenderness  which  is 
eventually  and  forever  the  distinguishing  charac- 
teristic of  Shelley.  ...  In  every  composition 
dating  after  the  middle  of  the  year  1814  a  new  tone 
prevails.  3 

These  novels  may  be  considered  as  marking  the 
beginnings  and  the  end  of  Shelley's  early  prose 
period.  Zastrozzi  is  the  work  of  a  precocious  boy, 
disliking  restraint,  whose  imagination  has  been 
captured  by  a  certain  type  of  titanism  in  the  ro- 
mantic literatiire  of  the  time.  With  St.  Irvyne 
the  influence  of  Godwin  through  St.  Leon,  if  not 

'  Works  of  Shelley,  vol.  vi.,  p.  235.  '  Ibid.,  p.  242. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  v.,  preface,  p.  xxii. 


126  The  French  Revolution 

through  Political  Justice,  has  begun.  In  The 
Assassins,  Shelley  'sRevolutionary  political  theory 
is  already  passing  over  into  a  social  idealism 
whose  imaginative  and  emotional  intensity  forces 
poetic  expression. 

The  most  significant  part  of  Shelley's  early 
work  however  is  not  the  romances  but  the  political 
pamphlets.  These  give  explicitly  and  in  its  true 
proportions  the  political  belief  underlying  the 
later  poetry. 

In  the  light  of  these  prose  tracts  it  becomes 
apparent  that  Shelley's  political  writings  fall 
into  three  distinct  groups,  only  one  of  which  is 
adequately  represented  in  the  poems,  i.  In  the 
first  group  are  those  writings  which  form  a  serious 
and  coherent  expression  of  Shelley's  theory  of  the 
nature  and  function  of  government.  2.  In  addi- 
tion to  these  there  are  a  number  of  articles  and 
pamphlets  directed  against  some  specific  abuse  or 
in  favour  of  specific  reforms.  3.  The  third  class, 
consisting  chiefly  of  poems,  we  may  call  the  expres- 
sion of  Shelley's  social  religion.  Shelley  believed 
devoutly  in  the  ultimate  perfectibility  of  humanity 
through  the  principle  of  universal  love,  and  looked 
forward  to  a  time  when  mankind  fulfilling  its 
highest  possibilities  might  live  without  restraint. 
But  be  it  observed,  perfect  liberty  was  to  be  the 
result  of  moral  and  spiritual  perfection,  not 
perfection  the  result  of  immediate  liberty.  ^ 

'  This  gives  the  doctrine  of  Godwin  a  somewhat  different  em- 
phasis.   The  nature  of  Shelley's  indebtedness  to  Godwin,  Rous- 


And  the  English  Novel  127 

In  considering  any  social  or  political  doctrine 
of  Shelley's  it  should  be  made  quite  clear  in  which 
of  these  classes  it  belongs.  Shelley  is  not  incon- 
sistent. But  if  his  recommendations  as  to  the 
most  effective  method  of  dealing  with  the  specific 
abuses  in  his  own  time  are  to  be  confused  with 
his  statements  of  underlying  governmental  prin- 
ciples, or  if  his  impassioned  yearning  for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth  is  to  be  perverted 
into  propaganda  for  immediate  political  anarchy, 
obviously  it  will  make  a  considerable  difference 
in  our  estimate  of  the  soundness  of  his  judgment. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  recall  the 
character  of  Shelley  given  by  his  friend  Jefferson 
Hogg  (who  despised  poetry)  and  endorsed  by 
another  intimate  friend,  Trelawney,  as  "the  only 
written  likeness  he  ever  knew  of  him. ' '     Hogg  says : 

It  was  his  rare  talents  as  a  scholar  that  drew  me  to 
him.  The  greatest  men  are  those  who  compose  our 
laws,  and  judges  to  minister  them,  and  if  Shelley  had 
put  all  his  mind  into  the  study  of  law,  instead  of 
writing  nonsensical  rhapsodies,  he  would  have  been  a 
great  benefactor  to  the  world,  for  he  had  the  most 
acute  intellect  of  any  man  I  ever  knew.  ^ 

With  this  estimate  by  way  of  counterbalancing 
ancient  prejudice  against  poets  in  practical  affairs 

seau,  Holbach,  Helvetius,  and  the  Encyclopaedists  is  treated  in 
some  detail  by  Dr.  Hancock  in  his  French  Revolution  and  the 
English  Poets,  chap.  v.     For  this  reason  all  question  of  sources  is 
omitted  from  the  present  discussion. 
'  Trelawney,  Records,  preface,  p.  x. 


128  The  French  Revolution 

we  may  consider  briefly  the  three  divisions  of 
Shelley's  political  theory.  Perhaps  it  may  be 
well  to  select  one  document  to  represent  each 
class  and  let  Shelley  speak  for  himself  as  far  as 
possible. 

The  fullest  expression  of  Shelley's  principles  of 
government  is  to  be  found  in  the  Declaration  of 
Rights,  a  broadside  printed  in  Ireland  in  1812.' 
Much  of  this  wise  and  liberal  manifesto  seems 
commonplace  now.  But  many  of  its  passages 
are  strikingly  modern  in  their  application.  One 
might  undertake  to  find  parallels  for  all  of  them 
in  the  leading  sociological  publications  of  the  past 
decade. 

We  may  quote  the  most  characteristic  sections: 


Government  has  no  rights.  It  is  a  delegation  from 
several  individuals  for  the  purpose  of  securing  their 
own.  It  is  therefore  just  only  so  far  as  it  exists  by  their 
consent,  useful  only  so  far  as  it  operates  to  their  well 
being. 

7. 

The  rights  of  man  in  the  present  state  of  society  can 
only  be  secured  by  some  degree  of  coercion  to  be 

'  "In  an  article  in  the  Fortnightly  Review  for  January,  1871. 
Mr.  Rossetti  points  out  the  resemblance  between  this  declaration 
and  two  such  documents  of  the  French  Revolution,  the  one 
adopted  by  the  Constituent  Assembly  in  August,  1789,  and  the 
other  proposed  in  April,  1793,  by  Robespierre."  Works  0} 
Shelley,  vol.  v.,  p.  392. 


And  the  English  Novel  129 

exercised  on  their  violator.  The  sufferer  has  a  right 
that  the  degree  of  coercion  employed  be  as  slight  as 
possible. 

9- 

No  man  has  a  right  to  disturb  the  public  peace  by 
personally  resisting  the  execution  of  a  law  however  bad. 

17- 

No  man  has  a  right  to  do  an  evil  thing  that  good 
may  come. 

18. 

Expediency  is  inadmissible  in  morals.  Politics  are 
only  sound  when  conducted  on  principles  of  morality. 
They  are  in  fact  the  morals  of  nations. 

19- 

Man  has  no  right  to  kill  his  brother.  It  is  no  excuse 
that  he  does  so  in  uniform. 

20. 

No  man  has  a  right  to  monopolize  more  than  he  can 
enjoy. 

29. 

Every  man  has  a  right  to  a  certain  degree  of  leisure 
and  liberty,  because  it  is  his  duty  to  attain  a  certain 
degree  of  knowledge.    He  may  before  he  ought.  ^ 

These  are  the  main  points  insisted  upon  in  the 
Declaration  of  Rights.  Twelve  of  the  thirty-one 
sections  are  devoted  to  the  right  of  perfect  freedom 
of  belief  and  discussion. 

'  Works  of  Shelley,  vol.  v.,  pp.  393-98. 

9 


130  The  French  Revolution 

In  the  same  classification  may  be  included  the 
fragments  On  A  System  of  Government  by  Juries 
and  On  Reforms,  together  with  numerous  passages 
in  works  belonging  primarily  to  the  other  groups. 

Of  the  second  group,  Shelley's  propaganda  for 
specific  reforms  in  his  own  time,  the  two  Marlow 
Pamphlets  may  be  taken  as  representative.  ^  The 
first  of  these  is  A  Proposal  for  Putting  Reform  to  a 
Vote  Throughout  the  Kingdom.  The  closing  para- 
graph may  be  quoted  as  a  fair  sample  of  Shelley's 
practical  wisdom : 

With  respect  to  Universal  Suffrage,  I  confess  I  con- 
sider its  adoption,  in  the  present  unprepared  state  of 
knowledge  and  feeling,  a  measure  fraught  with  peril. 
.  .  .  The  consequences  of  the  immediate  extension 
of  the  franchise  to  every  male  adult  would  be  to  place 
power  in  the  hands  of  men  who  have  been  rendered 
brutal  and  torpid  and  ferocious  by  ages  of  slavery. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Paine's  arguments  are  unanswerable ;  a  pure 
republic  may  be  shown  by  influences  the  most  obvious 
and  irresistible  to  be  that  system  of  social  order  the 
fittest  to  produce  the  happiness  and  promote  the 
genuine  eminence  of  man.  Yet,  nothing  can  less 
consist  with  reason  or  afford  smaller  hopes  of  any 
beneficial  issue,  than  the  plan  which  would  abolish  the 
regal  and  aristocratic  branches  of  our  constitution 
before  the  public  mind,  through  many  gradations  of 
improvement,  shall  have  arrived  at  the  maturity 
which  can  disregard  these  symbols  of  its  childhood. 

'Published  in  1817,  under  the  signature  "The  Hermit  of 
Marlow." 


And  the  English  Novel  131 

The  second  of  these  pamphlets,  An  Address  to 
the  People  on  the  Death  of  the  Princess  Charlotte, 
is  a  noble  example  of  almost  lyric  eloquence  in 
dealing  with  questions  of  the  hour.  Shelley 
merges  the  lament  for  the  death  of  a  beloved 
princess  in  the  deeper  and  more  solemn  lament 
for  the  death  of  three  ignorant  workmen  executed 
on  a  trumped-up  charge  of  conspiracy  through  the 
machinations  of  government  spies : 

Mourn  then  people  of  England.  Clothe  yourselves 
in  solemn  black.  Let  the  bells  be  tolled.  Think  of 
mortality  and  change.  Shroud  yourselves  in  solitude 
and  in  the  gloom  of  sacred  sorrow.  Spare  no  symbol 
of  universal  grief.  Weep — mourn — lament.  A  beau- 
tiful princess  is  dead, — she  who  should  have  been  the 
queen  of  her  beloved  nation  and  whose  posterity 
should  have  ruled  it  forever.  Liberty  is  dead.  Slave !  I 
charge  thee  disturb  not  the  depth  and  solemnity  of 
our  grief  by  any  meaner  sorrow.  .  .  .  Let  us  follow  the 
corpse  of  British  Liberty  slowly  and  reverentially  to 
its  tomb ;  and  if  some  glorious  phantom  shotdd  appear 
and  make  its  throne  of  broken  swords  and  sceptres  and 
royal  crowns  trampled  in  the  dust,  let  us  say  that  the 
Spirit  of  Liberty  has  arisen  from  its  grave  and  left  all 
that  was  gross  and  mortal  there,  and  kneel  down  and 
worship  it  as  our  queen.  ^ 

In  this  group  of  occasional  propaganda  belong 
An  Address  to  the  Irish  People  (18 12),  Proposals 
for  an  Association  (1812),  and  A  Letter  to  Lord 
Ellenborough  Occasioned  by  the  Sentence  which  he 

'  Works  of  Shelley,  vol.  vi,,  p.  113. 


132  The  French  Revolution 

Passed  on  Mr.  D.  I.  Eaton  as  Publisher  of  the 
Third  Part  of  Paine  s  "Age  of  Reason"  (1812). 

The  final  phase  of  Shelley's  Revolutionism,  his 
social  faith,  finds  its  complete  expression  only  in 
the  poems.  Shelley  was  perfectly  aware  that  the 
choice  of  prose  or  verse  as  a  medium  is  not  a 
matter  of  the  writer's  caprice  but  is  inherent  in  the 
nature  of  the  idea.  He  abhorred  didactic  poetry.  ^ 
It  is  the  soul  of  his  Revolutionism  that  is  to  be 
found  in  his  poems.  On  our  own  heads  be  it  if 
we  forget  to  look  for  the  body  of  his  practical 
teachings  where  it  may  be  found,  in  his  prose 
works. 

Chronology  assimies  here  a  certain  relevancy. 
If  we  take  the  period  of  the  Revolution  (including 
the  opposition  to  it  in  England)  as  it  is  frequently 
taken,  to  extend  from  the  summoning  of  the  States 
General  to  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,  it  may  be  said 
that  during  this  period  Shelley  belongs  among 
the  Revolutionary  prose  writers.  When  the  last 
sparks  of  radicalism  had  been  so  completely 
crushed  by  the  Holy  Alliance  that  even  Con- 
servatism lost  its  defensive  vigour,  Shelley's 
Revolutionism,  instead  of  fading  to  a  mood  of 
half-sceptical  revolt  like  that  of  Byron,  reaches 
the  tragic  intensity  of  faith  in  the  social  ideal 
that  gives  to  Prometheus  Unbound  its  unearthly 
beauty. 

The  poetry  of  Shelley  does  not  properly  fall 
within  the  limits  of  our  discussion,  either  in  point 

'  Cf.  Shelley's  preface  to  Prometheus  Unbound. 


And  the  English  Novel  133 

of  time  or  of  form.  ^  We  may  say  in  closing 
that  Shelley  the  poet  lived  in  an  age  of  conser- 
vatism but  he  was  not  of  it.  His  poetry  is  the 
fine  flower  of  the  age  of  Revolution.  His  own 
time  felt  this  and  repudiated  him.  He  himself 
was  conscious  of  it,  and  has  left  a  perfect  analysis 
of  his  own  relation  to  the  age  in  the  lines  from 
Adonais: 

Midst  others  of  less  note  came  one  frail  form, 
A  phantom  among  men;  companionless 

As  the  last  cloud  of  an  expiring  storm 
Whose  thunder  is  its  knell.  ^ 

*  Revolution  in  the  poetry  of  Shelley  has,  moreover,  been  fully 
treated  by  Dr.  Hancock.  A  list  of  the  poems  which  contain 
Revolutionary  doctrines  is  added  to  the  bibliography  of  this 
chapter. 

'Adonais,  verse  xxxi. 


CHAPTER  IV 

SOME  OPPONENTS  OF  THE  REVOLUTIONARY 
PHILOSOPHERS 

HOLCROFT,  Godwin,  and  Shelley;  these  three 
are  the  true  and  orthodox  exponents  of  the 
Revolutionary  doctrines.  Of  all  the  phases  of 
that  complex  philosophy,  nothing  essential  re- 
mains entirely  unrepresented  in  their  writings. 
In  succeeding  chapters^  we  shall  see  what  varia- 
tions the  main  tenets  received  at  the  hands  of 
novelists  who  did  not  accept  them  in  their  entirety. 
These,  however,  add  little  that  is  original.  They 
are  like  ripples  spreading  in  circles  that  grow  ever 
broader  and  less  distinct,  until  one  is  finally 
puzzled  to  trace  their  relation  to  the  central  force 
that  troubled  the  surface  of  the  age. 

Before  we  pass  on  to  these  secondary  radical- 
isms, there  remain  a  number  of  novels  which  deal 
with  the  original  philosophies  directly  but  from 
an  opposite  point  of  view.  These  add  very  con- 
siderably to  our  understanding  of  the  period. 
Unfriendly  criticism  is  often  not  the  least  acute. 
The  absurdities  of  the  Revolutionary  philosophies 

*  Especially  in  Chapters  V.  and  VI. 
134 


The  English  Novel  135 

were  numerous ;  he  who  runs  may  read  them.  But 
besides  satirizing  the  obvious  fallacies  of  their 
opponents,  some  of  these  novels  offer,  as  we  shall 
see,  valuable  analyses  of  the  systems  which  they 
are  attacking.  They  also  give  explicit  lists  of  the 
authors  identified  with  the  Revolution,  and  throw 
some  light  on  the  extent  to  which  their  doctrines 
had  spread  in  the  nation  at  large.  Finally,  and 
not  least  important,  they  indicate  the  extent  to 
which  the  age  was  aware  of  the  economic  basis  of 
its  own  unrests.  Veiled  under  a  zeal  for  law, 
order,  monarchy,  religion,  or  what  not,  one  catches 
ever  and  anon  strange  echoes  of  the  primitive, 
snarling  hatred,  bom  of  fear,  with  which  the 
Classes  who  Have  regard  all  that  threatens  to 
arouse  that  sleeping  beast,  the  Masses  who  Have 
Not.  Political  and  religous  bigotry  are  but 
feeble  motives  compared  with  the  bitter  unreason 
awakened  by  any  discussion  in  which  Property 
is  involved. 

Two  of  these  anti-Revolutionary  novels  are  of 
sufficient  interest  to  warrant  a  somewhat  detailed 
discussion.  These  will  be  treated  first  at  some 
length  before  passing  on  to  the  less  important 
novels  of  the  same  group. 

The  Vagabond,  or,  Whatever  is  Just  is  Equal, 
hut  Equality  not  always  Just"^  was,  as  the  preface 
announces : 

written  with  a  desire  of  placing  in  a  practical  light 
some  of  the  prominent  absurdities  of  the  many  self- 
'  By  George  Walker,  published  in  1799. 


136  The  French  Revolution 

important  reformers  of  mankind  who,  having  heated 
their  political  imaginations,  sit  down  to  write  political 
romances, — and  turn  loose  their  disciples  upon  the 
world  to  root  up  and  overthrow  everything  that  has 
received  the  sanction  of  ages.  On  this  subject  it  is 
impossible  to  exaggerate,  so  inimical  are  the  doctrines 
of  Godwin,  Hume,  Rousseau,  etc.,  to  all  civilized 
society.  Can  we  wonder  at  the  vices  and  crimes  of  a 
neighboring  people?  Or  can  we  wonder  that  the 
generality  of  shallow-thinking  men  embrace  and 
support  them  with  ardour?^ 

This  was  apparently  a  "best  seller"  in  its  time. 
In  the  preface  to  the  third  edition  the  author 
comments  upon  the  fact  that,  in  spite  of  his  refusal 
to  print  a  cheap  edition  like  The  Rights  of  Man, 
two  editions  have  been  sold  within  six  months. 
"It  gives  me  considerable  hopes  that  the  destruct- 
ive torpor  of  the  rich  is  evaporating,  and  that 
they  have  begun  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the 
present  crisis."^  Evidently  the  worthy  Walker 
perceived  quite  clearly  the  economic  nature  of 
"the  present  crisis,"  and  to  whose  interest  it  was 
to  avoid  changes. 

In  the  first  chapter  the  philosophic  Dr.  Alogos, 
while  walking  near  his  estate  reflecting  upon 
the  imreasonableness  of  private  property,  is  at- 
tacked by  a  youth  who  eloquently  defends  his 
right  to  take  whatever  he  needs.  The  good 
Doctor,  perceiving  that  he  has  met  with  a  kindred 
spirit,  takes  the  youth  home  with  him,  and  listens 

'  The  Vagabond,  vol.  i.,  p.  xix.  Ibid.,  p.  xxii. 


And  the  English  Novel  137 

to  his  story.  Fenton  (the  youth's  name)  had,  it 
appears,  a  natural  desire  for  learning.  He  "did 
not  then  know  that  profound  ignorance  is  the  real 
and  only  state  in  which  man  can  enjoy  felicity." 
At  the  university  he  had  a  tutor,  Stupeo  by  name, 
who  instructed  him  in  modem  philosophy  as 
represented  by  Tom  Paine,  Godwin,  Hume, 
Voltaire,  and  Rousseau.  He  learned,  among  other 
things,  that:  "To  doubt  is  the  first  step  to  be  a 
great  philosopher.  .  .  .  Those  who  believe  any- 
thing certainly  are  fools.  (Hume,  On  Human 
Nature,  vol.  i.,  p.  168.)"^  Also,  that  as  he  had 
never  consented  to  the  government  under  which 
he  lived,  to  him  it  was  an  absolute  despotism. 
He  objected  at  first  that  the  government  could 
not  possibly  consult  every  individual  as  he  came 
of  age,  but  was  soon  convinced  that:  "Surely 
Voltaire,  Rousseau,  and  Tom  Paine  knew  what 
was  for  the  best."^  He  "deserted  Aristotle, 
Grotius,  Puffendorf,  and  even  Locke,  and  ceased 
to  study  Latin  and  Greek." 3    He  adds: 

My  imagination  was  warmed  by  the  glorious  and 
brilliant  spectacle  of  superstition  tumbling  down  and 
crushing  tyranny  in  its  ruins.  .  .  .  The  time  shall  come 
when  knowledge  is  disseminated  in  all  ranks,  when  the 
plowman  shall  sit  on  his  plow  reading  the  rights  of 
man.  Then  aristocracy  and  property  shall  tumble 
together.'' 

'  Vagabond,  vol.  i.,  p.  16-21.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  30. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  25.  4  Ibid.,  pp.  45-47. 


138  The  French  Revolution 

He  was  expelled  from  college,  to  the  great  grief 
of  his  affectionate  father,  who  said:  "Stupeo  could 
never  sophisticate  the  common  sense  dictates  of 
a  mind  willing  to  do  right."  ^  A  fire  broke  out 
near  his  home;  he  kept  the  firemen  away  from 
the  ladders  while  he  meditated  which  of  the  in- 
mates was  best  worth  saving,  according  to  the 
teachings  of  Godwin.  Attacked  by  his  indignant 
neighbours,  his  answer  was  to  doubt  whether  there 
ever  was  any  fire  at  all,  according  to  the  method 
of  Hume. 

Fenton  then  left  his  home  and  became  a  vaga- 
bond, consoling  himself  with  the  thought:  "Were 
I  fit  to  live  in  society,  I  should  be  no  real  philo- 
sopher." In  his  wanderings,  he  came  upon  a 
gathering  in  a  barn  where  a  political  ranter  was 
lecturing  on  the  rights  of  man  and  the  evils  of 
the  time.  (A  note  declares  this  address  to  be 
quoted  from  a  real  political  lecturer.)  He  winds 
up  with  a  denunciation  of  government  spies. 
The  crowd  applauds  vigorously,  and  departs  with 
a  firm  conviction  that:  "England  be  gone  to  the 
dogs  as  we  heard  Citizen  Ego  say,  and  it  will 
never  be  as  it  ought  to  be  until  we  have  another 
Alderman  Cromwell,  and  no  tithes."  ^  Afterwards 
Fenton  heard  "Citizen  Ego"  planning  to  forge 
letters  from  imaginary  corresponding  clubs  in 
other  cities.  The  author  adds  a  note  denouncing 
all  political  clubs. 

Fenton  harangued  against  the  luxiny  and  ex- 

«  Vagabond,  vol.  i.,  p.  64.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  84. 


And  the  English  Novel  139 

travagance  of  the  rich,  and  was  answered  by  a 
noble  lord  (the  author's  mouthpiece),  in  the 
following  manner: 

Luxury  fosters  arts  and  sciences,  and  employs  the 
mechanic,  the  shop-keeper,  the  merchant.  Without 
luxury,  none  of  these  could  meet  employ.  ...  In  the 
present  condition  of  society,  it  is  in  the  power  of  every 
man  possessing  real  abilities  to  rise  to  a  station  equal 
to  those  abilities;  and  therefore  we  reverence  the 
exteriors  of  wealth,  tacitly  bestowing  it  upon  all 
possessors.' 

Next,  Fenton  fell  in  with  a  "No  Popery"  mob, 
which  forced  him  into  a  boxing  contest.  To  the 
account  of  this  the  author  adds  a  note : 

See  the  elegant  reasons  for  boxing,  in  Anna  St.  Ives 
and  Hugh  Trevor,  two  novels  which  the  democratic 
Reviews  hold  up  as  examples  of  virtue  and  morality. 
'Tis  true,  if  blasphemy  be  virtue  and  morality,  these 
offspring  of  the  new  school  have  ample  claim.  ^ 

Finding  that  the  "No  Popery"  mob  was  being 
roused  by  the  new  philosophers,  Fenton  joined  in 
it.  There  he  encountered  his  old  friend  Stupeo, 
who  urged  him  on  to  the  destruction  of  property. 
"As  long  as  one  single  cartload  of  property  re- 
mains in  any  country,  there  can  be  no  true 
equality."  3 

'  Vagabond,  vol.  i.,  p.  114.  The  unconscious  irony  of  all  this 
must  have  appealed  very  forcibly  to  thinkers  of  the  type  of 
Holcroft  and  Mary  WoUstonecraft. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  129.  3  Ibid.,  p.  144. 


140  The  French  Revolution 

Fenton  next  associated  himself  with  a  woman 
who  harangues  him  on  the  rights  of  women. 
He  says  of  her:  "She  reasoned  Httle,  but  adopted 
one  principle  and  rejected  another  by  a  sort  of 
tact."  A  note  points  out  that  this  is  quoted  from 
Godwin's  Life  of  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  and  adds: 
"Those  who  reason  much  will  readily  believe 
this."^     Fenton's  Mary  soon  left  him,  however. 

On  one  occasion,  while  inciting  a  mob  of  farmers 
to  protest  against  the  enclosure  of  public  lands, 
he  was  arrested.  The  magistrate  at  his  trial  re- 
peats the  argument  of  the  noble  lord,  with 
additions : 

What  can  be  more  easy  than  to  lead  people  to  desire 
to  live  without  labour,  to  plunder  the  rich,  and  to  live 
without  regard  to  those  laws  which  were  made  pur- 
posely to  restrain  their  passions  ?  .  .  .  The  accumtila- 
tion  of  individual  property  is  the  natural  and  certain 
consequence  of  society.  The  rich,  by  their  luxuries, 
give  employment  to  the  poor.  The  rich  would  do 
much  better  without  the  poor  than  the  poor  without 
them.  ...  In  fact  it  is  the  middle  class  of  people 
who  bear  the  great  burden  of  the  state.  The  poor  were 
exactly  the  same  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  will  be 
always  the  same  under  any  form  of  government. 
Moreover,  no  Englishman  can  die  of  absolute  want  if 
he  will  appeal  to  the  charitable  institutions.* 

To  which  astonishing  piece  of  complacent  econo- 
mic nonsense  Fenton  replies,  that,  "There  is  no 

'  Vagabond,  vol.  i.,  p.  i8i.  'Ibid.,  p.  213. 


And  the  English  Novel  141 

wealth  but  the  labour  of  man."  But  the  people 
have  been  convinced  by  the  magistrate,  and  eagerly 
consent  to  have  their  public  lands  fenced  in.  ^ 

Soon  after  this,  Fenton  turned  highwayman, 
since  robbery  is  "merely  asserting  the  Rights  of 
Man  by  force,"  and  so  met  Dr.  Alogos. 

Dr.  Alogos  and  Fenton  determine  to  enlighten 
their  community.  They  establish  a  Temple  of  Rea- 
son in  a  barn,  where  they  read  moral  lectures  with 
such  effectiveness  that  the  curate  soon  finds  him- 
self obliged  to  sue  for  his  tithes  and  the  neigh- 
bouring public  houses  each  have  a  Revolutionary 
Club  where  the  labourers  meet  and  drink,  until: 
"They  now  clearly  perceived  that  the  times  were 
the  worst  that  ever  old  England  had  witnessed; 
for  they  every  day  found  themselves  less  able  to 
maintain  their  families."^ 

Dr.  Alogos  has  a  very  sensible  niece  who  is 
much  opposed  to  the  new  philosophies,  and  espe- 
cially to  Mary  Wollstonecraft's  doctrines.  Her 
argument  is,  that  women  cannot  be  equal  to  men 
in  anything  because  their  lives  must  be  confined 
exclusively  to  the  bearing  and  rearing  of  children, 
"a  humbling  difference."  It  will  be  observed 
that  it  was  left  for  the  opponents  of  the  new  femin- 

'  Fenton  was  not  so  altogether  in  the  wrong  here  as  the  author 
would  have  us  believe.  Gibbins  says,  in  his  Industrial  History  of 
England  (p.  199):  "The  enclosure  of  the  common  fields  was 
effected  at  a  great  loss  to  the  smaller  tenant,  and  when  his  com- 
mon of  pasture  was  enclosed  as  well,  he  was  greatly  injured,  while 
the  agricultural  labourer  was  permanently  disabled." 

"  Vagabond,  vol.  ii.,  p.  19. 


142  The  French  Revolution 

ism  to  discover  anything  "humbling"  in  this. 
Mary  Wollstonecraft  herself  would  have  consid- 
ered potential  motherhood  a  strange  proof  of 
inferiority. 

Dr.  Alogos,  Fenton,  and  Stupeo  resolve  to 
emigrate  to  America  in  search  of  a  virtuous  and 
primitive  society.  They  meet  a  storm  at  sea, 
and  terror  convinces  Dr.  Alogos  that:  "There  is 
more  in  religion  and  in  commonplace  maxims  of 
good  and  evil  than  the  great  Stupeo  would  allow."  ^ 

They  find  Philadelphia  very  uncomfortable. 
"Property  is  much  regarded,  and  the  maxim  is 
*  work  or  starve. '  There  is  political  equality  here, 
but  not  equality  of  property."^  They  immedi- 
ately set  out  for  the  wilds  of  Kentucky.  There  they 
have  some  experience  of  real  savages.  Stupeo  is 
killed.  The  Doctor  declares:  "Rousseau  was  a 
fool.  I  begin  to  think  the  savage  state  of  nature 
was  not  conducted  on  philosophical  principles." 
To  this  the  author  adds  a  note : 

It  is  the  practice  of  the  new  school  to  extoll  every- 
thing savage.  Why  is  this  but  to  loosen  men  from  the 
bonds  of  society,  and  sap  the  foundations  of  govern- 
ments? .  .  .  The  emancipation  of  the  negroes,  and 
the  inhumanity  of  Christians  is  an  excellent  stalking- 
horse  for  those  who  pretend  to  finer  feelings  than  the 
rest  of  mankind.  ^ 

Fenton  and  Dr.  Alogos  finally  discover  a  fan- 
tastic  land   of   philosophers,    conducted   on   the 

'  Vagabond,  vol.  ii.,  p.  105.  '  Ibid.,  p.  132. 

J  Ibid.,  pp.  158-73- 


And  the  English  Novel  143 

principles  of  Political  Justice;  and  a  most  wretched 
community  it  is.  Lack  of  incentive  has  checked 
the  development  of  talents ;  no  one  will  work ;  and 
no  one  will  study.  All  property  in  common  has 
resulted  in  no  property  at  all.  To  this  account 
there  is  a  note  appended : 

I  know  that  many  of  the  new  school  will  say  that  I 
misrepresent  the  meaning  of  equality;  that  they  do 
not  mean  equality  of  property,  but  equality  of  rights. 
The  truth  is,  they  mean  both,  though  the  fairest  pre- 
tence is  held  out.^ 

In  this  community,  Alogos  and  Fenton  see  men 
starving  while  they  are  trying  to  decide  by  pure 
reason  where  the  daily  half -hour  of  work,  which 
according  to  Godwin  is  all  they  need  do,  can  best 
be  applied  for  the  general  good.  Thieves  and 
criminals  destroy  everything;  for  there  is  no 
"politically  just"  mode  of  punishment.  The 
women  are  forced  to  share  in  the  roughest  work, 
until  they  petition  for  a  return  to  the  "ancient 
slavery."  Poverty,  hunger,  and  disease  are  rapidly 
destroying  the  entire  population. 

This  [says  the  author],  is  a  philosophic  republic. 
The  ancient  republics  were  fighting  republics;  the 
Americans  and  Hollanders  are  trading  republics. 
But  men  seem  neither  better  satisfied,  nor  better 
governed,  nor  better  fed  in  any  of  them;  nor  in 
fact  do  they  enjoy  so  many  benefits  as  in  a  limited 
monarchy. " 

'  Vagabond,  vol.  ii.,  p.  209. 


144  The  French  Revolution 

Fenton  and  Dr.  Alogos,  quite  convinced  of  .their 
folly,  return  to  warn  England  of  the  dangers  of  the 
principles  which  they  formerly  advocated. 

The  Infernal  Quixote:  A  Tale  of  the  Day  has  for 
its  motto:  "Better  to  reign  in  Hell  than  serve  in 
Heaven."^  Walker  at  least  did  Godwin  and  his 
followers  the  honour  of  believing  them  sincerely 
mad;  Lucas  will  not  allow  them  even  the  merit 
of  self-deception.  He  considers  them  demagogues 
one  and  all,  willing  to  overturn  society  if  thereby 
they  may  come  into  power.  ^ 

There  is  a  Miltonic  prologue  3;  an  address  of 
Satan  to  the  peers  of  hell. 

The  reign  of  Antichrist  is  begun,  thanks  to  the 
daring,  restless  sons  of  France  inspired  by  me  and 
mine!  Yet  there  is  still  a  spot  resists  my  utmost 
efforts, — too  well  ye  know  the  place.  In  vain  that 
Imp  Voltaire  and  yonder  miserable  group — on  earth, 
conceited  prating,  proud  philosophers — gifted  with  all 
our  learning,  tried;  in  vain  Robespierre.  .  .  .  Our 
Hell-bom  virtues  nor  art  nor  force  can  graft  upon 
their  tree  of  civil  and  religious  liberty. 

'  By  Charles  Lucas,  A.M.     London,  1801. 

*  While  we  are  on  tliis  question  of  disinterestedness,  we  might 
observe  Lucas's  own  disgustingly  fulsome  dedication  to  royalty. 
Is  it  possible  that  our  worthy  Master  of  Arts  was  judging  other 
men  by  himself? 

3  Milton  was  having  an  especial  vogue  when  this  was  written. 
Cf.  the  following  passage  from  the  Memoirs  of  an  Old  Wig:  "It 
was  much  the  rage,  not  only  to  write  the  life  of  Milton,  but  to 
hunt  out  busts,  paintings,  prints,  nay,  to  trace  him  through  all  his 
different  places  of  residence." 


And  the  English  Novel  145 

But  there  remains  one  scheme  untried;  of  which 
this  novel  is  an  account,  as  foretold  by  Satan.  * 

Lord  Marauder  and  Wilson  Wilson,  the  son  of 
a  virtuous  farmer,  are  bom  on  the  same  day  (for 
purposes  of  antithesis).  Marauder  is  from  his 
youth  devoted  to  evil. 

He  seemed  to  have  imbibed  an  inveterate  dislike 
to  religion  [but  on  the  other  hand,  although],  he  was 
not  ignorant  of  the  wonderful  arguments  of  William 
Godwin,  and  though,  if  it  suited  his  purpose,  he  would 
make  use  of  the  conceit  and  folly  of  another,  he  had 
too  much  sense  to  be  led  by  them  himself.* 

Marauder  corrupts  Emily,  the  girl  Wilson  loves, 
by  keeping  her  supplied  with  all  the  new  books. 
"Among  the  first  of  these  was  Mary  WoUstone- 
craft's  Rights  of  Women  J  To  this  he  adds  Vol- 
taire's Tales,  and  Diderot's  novels.  He  reads  to 
her  extracts  from  "that  first  of  writers,  that  most 
rational,  philosophic,  learned,  modest,  and  inge- 
nious of  all  human  naturals,  William  Godwin; 
taken  from  his  scientific  work.  The  History  of  the 
Intrigues  of  his  Own  Wife.""*  Emily  is  induced  to 
elope  with  Marauder  to  London,  where  her  educa- 
tion in  vice  is  completed  by  the  noble  emigres 
with  whom  Marauder  associates.  She  becomes 
an  adept  in  the  Voltairean  philosophy,  with  a 

'  Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  i.,  p.  4.  "Ibid.,  p.  152. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  153. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  170.  Memoirs  of  the  Author  of  a  Vindication  of  the 
Rights  of  Women,  of  course. 


146  The  French  Revolution 

charming  marchioness  to  explain  it  to  her.     The 
author  comments  on  the  fact  that : 

The  ci-devant  nobiUty  were  perfectly  acquainted 
with  the  works  of  Spinoza,  Hobbes,  Shaftesbury, 
Hume,  Voltaire,  Diderot,  D'Alembert,  and  the  whole 
gang  of  modern  sceptics  in  the  English,  French,  and 
German  languages,  and  .  .  .  frequently  dispute  with 
great  civility  on  the  use  of  titles.  From  the  conversa- 
tion of  many  of  them  a  stranger  would  suppose  that 
they  were  of  the  democratic  party.  Many  of  the 
first  abilities  actually  joined  the  popular  cause;  for  .  .  . 
the  present  infamous  factions  (in  France)  must  not 
be  confused  with  the  first  noble  emancipators  of  their 
country.  * 

The  duke,  whose  heir  Marauder  believed  him- 
self to  be,  dies,  a  long-lost  son  appears,  and  Marau- 
der finds  his  hopes  of  rank  and  title  vanished. 
His  aristocratic  ambitions  thwarted,  he  changes 
sides  immediately,  resolving  to  make  the  hell 
of  democracy  his  heaven.  In  this  he  is  compared 
to  Cromwell,  "except  that  Cromwell's  enthusiasm 
rather  got  the  better  of  his  hypocrisy, ' '  while 
Marauder's  only  principle  is,  that  "all  principle 
is  folly.  "^  He  becomes  a  leader  in  all  seditious 
and  treasonable  plots,  finally  joins  in  the  Irish 
uprisings,  and  is  there  defeated  and  killed  by 
Wilson. 

^Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  i.,  pp.  125-37.  The  last  sentence  is 
significant  as  an  indication  that  English  observers  were  fully- 
aware  of  the  fundamental  change  in  the  nature  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, the  passing  from  bourgeoise  to  proletarian  control. 

'Ibid.,  p.  295. 


And  the  English  Novel  147 

Such  is  the  main  plan  of  the  novel.  All  this 
is  of  interest,  aside  from  the  author's  main  thesis 
(the  ambitious  motives  of  the  Revolutionary- 
leaders),  for  the  lists  of  Revolutionary  writers  it 
gives,  and  for  the  light  it  throws  on  the  attitude 
of  the  French  ci-devant  nobility.  .There  are 
also  various  passages  satirizing  the  mummeries 
of  "Those  Secret  Societies,  who  by  some  general 
name  and  open  profession  of  constitutional  pur- 
pose conceal  their  attempt  to  overthrow  Chiu^ch 
and  State."' 

But  there  are  certain  other  digressions  which  are 
of  more  interest  to  us  than  all  the  rest  of  the 
novel.  Lucas  was  evidently  of  a  keenly  analyti- 
cal turn  of  mind;  not  content  with  merely  dis- 
liking all  the  newer  tendencies  of  his  time,  he 
seeks  to  discover  the  common  basis  of  his  dislikes. 
In  so  doing  he  gives  us  a  very  illuminating  dis- 
cussion of  the  underlying  ajEfinities  between  the 
apparently  opposite  principles  of  Sentimentalism 
and  Pure  Reason. 

The  question  is  one  which  suggests  itself  inevit- 
ably. Sentimentalism  (which  we  have  defined 
as  an  interest  in  feeling  for  its  own  sake,  tending 
to  make  feeling  the  test  of  opinion),  and  the  Pure 
Reason  philosophies,  with  their  negation  of  feel- 
ing, would  seem  to  be  opposite  poles  of  thought. 
Yet  there  are  certain  curious  parallelisms.  It  is 
at  about  the  same  time  (the  close  of  the  seven- 
teenth century),  that  both  Sentimentalism  and 

'  Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  ii.,  p.  212. 


148  The  French  Revolution 

Scepticism  begin  to  make  their  influence  felt  in 
English  Hterature.  Furthermore,  it  is  in  the  writers 
directly  influencing  the  Revolutionists  that  both 
come  to  their  fullest  expression,  Hume,  the  com- 
plete Sceptic,  and  Rousseau,  the  complete  Senti- 
mentalist, were  bom  within  a  couple  of  years  of 
each  other.  ^  We  have  already  commented  on  the 
fact  that  Godwin,  apostle  of  Pure  Reason  in  his 
theory,  is  a  thorough  Sentimentalist  in  his  literary 
practice.  Certain  books  like  the  Social  Contract 
are  puzzling  to  classify. 

There  is  another  puzzling  element  in  the  thought 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  growth  of  Method- 
ism and  similar  forms  of  dissent,  whose  followers 
were  grouped  imder  the  general  heading  of  reli- 
gious enthusiasts,  were  seriously  threatening  the 
dry  bones  of  Establishment.  And,  again  a  coin- 
cidence in  dates:  the  first  Methodist  preaching 
place  was  opened  in  Bristol  in  1739,  the  year  of 
the  publication  of  Hume's  first  work,  A  Treatise 
on  Human  Nature. 

We  must  not  be  misled  by  an  instinctive  desire 
for  synthesis;  yet  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that 
these  curious  interactions  and  chronological  paral- 
lelisms are  altogether  without  significance.  Hence 
their  discussion  and  analysis  by  a  contemporary 
critic  is  of  especial  interest. 

'Hume,  b.  171 1;  Rousseau,  b.  1712.  These  coincidences  in 
dates  are,  of  course,  noted  merely  to  illustrate  the  fact  that  Sen- 
timentalism.  Scepticism,  and  Methodism  were  exactly  contem- 
porary. 


And  the  English  Novel  149 

Infidelity  and  enthusiasm,  Lucas  admits,  are 
opposite  extremes;  but  they  often  reach  the  same 
conclusions.  Godwin,  he  points  out,  began  as  a 
dissenting  preacher,  and  there  are  many  similari- 
ties between  his  doctrines  and  those  of  Methodism. 

The  author  of  the  Spiritual  Quixote,  speaking  of 
religious  enthusiasm  ere  the  irreligious  was  yet  ma- 
tured, said  "Enthusiasm  is  deaf  to  all  the  calls  of 
nature,"  etc.  Did  not  the  wretches  in  France  boast 
the  murder  of  fathers,  brothers,  and  sons  ?  Does  not 
Godwin  renounce  those  ties?^ 

In  further  illustration  of  this  similarity  Lucas 
gives  a  mock  sermon,  based  he  declares  on  one  he 
has  actually  heard,  which  with  a  few  changes  in 
names  is  adapted  either  to  a  democratic  ranter  or 
to  a  Methodist  preacher.  He  defies  the  reader 
to  tell  which  was  the  original  form. 

Faith,  Grace,  Hope,  and  Charity  make  it  the  one; 
Liberty,  Equality,  and  Justice  make  it  the  other. 
Call  Saints  Democrats;  Sinners,  Aristocrats;  for  Satan, 
read  Tyrants ;  and  for  more  sacred  names,  take  Nature, 
and  so  forth. 

Oration 

j  Satan  and  his  imps  of  darkness  \  are  on  the 

I  Tyrants  and  their  ministers  of  tyranny  )  watch, 

(  beloved  Brethren )  ^    r    ^  •    ^t,      4-        1 

my  i  ^  „       ^.  .  \  to  fasten  you  m  the  eternal 

(  fellow  Citizens       ) 

chains  of  i  „,  \  Be  therefore  ever  vigilant. 

(  Slavery  ) 

'  Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  ii.,  p.  176. 


150  The  French  Revolution 

Put  on  the  ]  t  -i      -     p  [  and  defy  the  powers  of 

Evil 

rr,  etc.,  etc.,  ad  libitum.^ 

Tyranny. 

Lucas  then  passes  on  to  a  classification  of  the 
new  philosophies  of  infidelity  and  enthusiasm, 
which  he  groups  under  the  comprehensive  heading 
of  "Diabolism."  This  he  defines  as,  "A  species 
of  wisdom  which  man  discovers  by  the  aid  of 
his  own  individual  powers,  corporal  and  mental, 
without  owning  the  aid  of  any  superior  being, 
directly  or  indirectly."^ 

Diabolism  he  divides  into  nine  sects,  as  follows : 


Stoics. 
Epicureans. 
Peripatetics. 
Virtuosos. 

Illuminati. 

Libertinians. 

Naturals. 

Reasoners. 

Nothingers. 


of  ancient  origin,  but  modernized. 


Moderns.  ^ 


The  first  three  "ancients"  he  dismisses  as  being 
sufficiently  well  understood,  and  proceeds  to  de- 
fine the  others,  with  satirical  comment.  The 
"Virtuosos"    are    the    lovers    of    Wonder;    their 

'  Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  ii.,  p.  177-78. 
'  Ibid.,  p.  222. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  225. 


And  the  English  Novel  151 

delight  is  to  rake  in  the  past  for  things  forgotten, 
which  they  hail  as  novelties.'  "Libertinians," 
as  might  be  supposed,  are  the  political  theorists, 
anarchistic  or  republican,  who  are  insane  on  the 
subject  of  liberty.  "  Illuminati "  include  not 
merely  the  society  of  that  name,  but  all  religious 
sects  which  claim  an  especial  enlightenment, 
including  Quakers  and  Methodists.^ 

The  "Naturals"  are  the  philosophers  of  the 
Return  to  Nature,  and  the  worshippers  of  "natu- 
ral" feeling.  3  This  sect,  Lucas  thinks,  are  more 
sincere  and  less  dangerous  (because  more  obvi- 
ously mad)  than  the  others.  "Like  the  Quakers, 
they  are  more  admired  by  the  rest  than  imitated."  ^ 
He  adds,  the  name  "Natural"  is  rendered  espe- 
cially appropriate  by  the  bedlam  appearance 
presented  by  the  followers  of  this  sect  in  their 
"Return  to  Nature"  costumes. 

Lucas  comments  on  the  strange  alliance  between 

'C/.  frequent  definitions  of  Romanticism  as  "The  Rennais- 
sance  of  Wonder  "  and  as  "  A  Return  to  the  Middle  Ages. " 

'  Society  of  the  lUuminati;  "Founded  in  1776,  by  Adam  Weis- 
haupt  with  the  ostensible  object  of  perfecting  human  nature,  of 
binding  in  one  brotherhood  men  of  all  countries,  ranks  and  relig- 
ions, and  of  surrounding  the  persons  of  princes  with  trustworthy 
advisers.  The  mysteries  related  to  religion,  which  was  transform- 
ed into  naturalism  and  free  thought,  and  to  politics,  which  in- 
clined to  socialism  and  republicanism."  (Article  on  lUuminati, 
in  the  American  Encyclopcedia.)  Cf.  also  my  note  on  St.  Simon, 
in  Chapter  VI. 

3  Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  ii.,  p.  263. 

4/.  €.,  Sentimentalists,  and  Rousseauists  of  the  Thomas  Day 
type. 


152  The  French  Revolution 

the  "Naturals"  and  the  "Reasoners"  {i.  e.,  the 
Sentimentalists  and  Sceptics)  of  his  time.  "The 
Reasoners  deceive  the  Naturals  by  making  them 
think  the  Reasoners'  whims  and  fancies  are  the 
genuine  offspring  of  nature." '  Like  the  Naturals, 
the  Reasoners  exalt  an  ideal  primitive  man;  espe- 
cially when  attacking  religion.  "The  most  com- 
mon method  of  the  Reasoner  is  to  write  a  dialogue 
on  the  subject  between  himself  and  the  savage. 
He,  very  kindly,  for  Christianity;  the  savage  for 
himself.     Oh,  how  the  savage  cuts  him  up!"^ 

Hume  is  a  perfect  specimen  of  the  Reasoner. 
"Rousseau  is  so  strange  a  compound  between  a 
Natural  and  a  Reasoner  (which  rarely  happens) 
that  his  brethren  never  knew  what  to  make  of 
him."  3 

Most  detestable  of  all  Diabolists  are  the  Nothin- 
gers.  These  are  the  people  whose  pride  it  is  to 
have  no  principles  whatever;  who  are  swayed 
entirely  by  self-interest.  In  this  group  Lucas 
classified  Godwin.  "Every  Jacobin  is  of  this  sect, 
and  they  generally  also  embrace  most  of  the  others, 
except  the  Naturals,  and  that  they  endeavour  to 
make  'Le  Souverain  Peuple. '  "'' 

Having  demonstrated  the  real  unity  in  Diabol- 
ism, however  various  its  forms,  Lucas  proceeds 
to  indicate  his  own  philosophy.  He  favours  a 
definite  and  centralized  authority  in  matters  of 

•  Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  ii.,  p.  263.  '  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  279. 

3  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  283.  1 1bid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  291. 


And  the  English  Novel  153 

government  and  of  belief;  Constitutional  Mon- 
archy and  the  Established  Church. 

Establishment  [he  says],  is  a  requisite  form  of 
religious  worship.  What  in  the  abstract  cannot  be 
defended  may  in  the  whole  be  of  the  highest  benefit.^ 
In  Church,  in  State,  I  fear  schisms  and  oppositions 
as  the  harbingers  of  confusion,  and  from  them  I  dread 
the  introduction  of  every  species  of  evil.^ 

In  all  matters  of  belief,  he  recognizes  the  prin- 
ciple of  authority. 

If  everyone  were  free  to  make  the  articles  of  his  own 
faith,  little  would  remain  of  the  original  institutions  of 
Christ.  .  .  .  The  majority  of  the  world  are  composed  of 
the  ignorant,  the  designing,  the  indolent,  and  the  open 
reprobate; — how  dark  and  gloomy  is  the  prospect  of 
the  human  mind  left  to  itself !  It  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  our  minds  as  well  as  persons  should  have 
some  law.'' 

Such  is  Lucas's  analysis  of  the  thought  of  his 
time.  On  the  one  side  authority,  tradition,  a 
fixed  standard,  in  belief  as  in  conduct.  On  the 
other  side,  individualism,  revolt,  disorganization. 
The  Sentimentalist  and  Pure  Reason  philosophies 

'  But  Lucas  is  not  quite  so  sound  a  Pragmatist  as  one  might 
infer  from  his  method  of  defending  EstabHshment.  He  defines 
Christianity  as  "That  purity  of  principle  which  will  not,  by  any 
mental  persuasion,  commit  that  which  is  wrong,  even  if  it  is  to 
produce  the  greatest  benefit. "        Infernal  Quixote,  vol.  iii.,  p.  68. 

^  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  183-86. 

J  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  295. 


154  The  French  Revolution 

in  all  their  forms  have  this  in  common:  they  are 
a  revolt  from  the  principle  of  authority.  Their 
ethical  systems  are  formed  by  each  man  for  him- 
self, subject  to  no  discipline  by  recognized  superi- 
ors. Having  cast  aside  the  principle  of  authority, 
one  group  is  guided  by  pure  feeling,  the  other  by 
pure  reason;  but  that  is  merely  a  subdivision  of 
the  main  classification  on  the  basis  of  their  com- 
mon revolt. 

A  number  of  other  novels  written  in  opposition 
to  the  Revolutionary  philosophies  may  be  men- 
tioned, but  none  of  them  merit  any  detailed  con- 
sideration. They  are  merely  significant  of  the 
prevalence  of  the  opinions  which  they  represent.^ 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Lucas  classified  the 
Methodists  among  the  Sentimentalists,  as  having 
revolted  from  the  principle  of  authority  in  favour 
of  purely  subjective  standards.  This  classifica- 
tion is  curiously  corroborated  by  an  earlier  novel, 
The  Fair  Methodist,  or,  Such  Things  Are  (anon., 
1794).  This  is  announced  as  "a  serious  novel, 
founded  on  truth."  A  passage  in  the  dedication 
(to  Sir  Rowland  Hill)  is  worth  quoting : 

'  Edmund  Oliver,  by  Charles  Lloyd  (the  friend  of  Charles 
Lamb,  to  whom  the  book  is  dedicated),  should  be  mentioned  here. 
Dowden  says  of  it:  "The  reproduction  in  fiction  of  some  of  S.  T. 
Coleridge's  early  adventures  has  given  the  book  an  interest  which 
its  literary  merits  fail  to  justify.  The  heroine,  Lady  Gertrude 
Sinclair,  is  a  disciple  of  Political  Justice"  {English  Literature  and 
the  French  Revolution,  p.  89). 


And  the  English  Novel  155 

The  word  Gospel  in  divinity,  like  Liberty  in  politics, 
is  intoxicating  in  its  sound  to  those  who  know  little 
of  its  genuine  signification.  .  .  .  That  ignorance  is  the 
mother  of  devotion  is  manifested  in  the  very  temper  of 
methodistical  enthusiasm,  which  denies  human  learn- 
ing as  useless  and  gives  a  preference  to  the  Spirit  as 
alone  sufficient.  ^ 

The  novel  itself  deals  with  a  young  woman  who 
behaves  very  treacherously  to  all  her  friends,  and 
then  becomes  a  Methodist  and  assumes  airs  of 
great  sanctity.  There  are  numerous  passages 
directed  against  all  forms  of  belief  in  which  faith 
and  an  emotional  experience  are  considered  as  an 
equivalent  for  works.  The  author  is  not  opposed 
to  all  the  newer  tendencies,  however.  He  speaks 
with  great  respect  of  Hume  and  Priestley. 

Before  we  leave  the  subject  of  Methodism, 
there  is  an  interesting  passage  in  The  Memoirs  of 
an  Old  Wig  (Richard  Fenton,  181 5),  indicating 
that  the  charge  of  Sentimentalism  was  a  common 
one.  The  Old  Wig  says  of  one  of  its  owners: 
"His  religion  was   made  up  of    Rousseau    and 

H h  M e  [Hannah  More?],  the  worst  sort 

of  Methodism,  that  is,  Methodism  with  a  dis- 
proportionate mixture  of  the  philosophy  of 
feeling." 

There  are  several  novels  written  at  about  this 
time  in  rather  truculent  defence  of  orthodoxy. 
Among  the  best  of  these  is  Memoirs  oj  a  Female 

•  The  Fair  Methodist,  p.  ii. 


156  The  French  Revolution 

Philosopher,  by  a  Modern  Male  Philosopher  (anon., 
1 81 8).  This  is  an  imitation  of  Hume's  Dialog 
of  Four  Philosophers.  It  is  in  the  form  of  an 
argument  between  four  ladies  representing  the 
Stoic,  Epicurean,  Platonist,  and  Christian  philo- 
sophies. The  Christian  has  the  best  of  it,  of 
course.  The  semblance  of  narrative  form  is  kept 
by  having  each  of  the  ladies  tell  the  story  of  her 
life  by  way  of  illustration. 

A  similar  novel  of  argument  is  Edward  and 
Sophia  anon.  (188-,),  in  which  a  deist  is  reconciled 
to  the  Established  Church. 

In  Walter  Kennedy,  an  American  Tale  (1805), 
John  Davis  gives  some  realistic  pictures  of  Indian 
life  in  opposition  to  the  belief  in  a  Rousseauistic 
state  of  nature  and  the  noble  savage. 

Two  novels  with  prefaces  bewailing  the  use  of 
fiction  to  corrupt  the  age  with  Revolutionary 
doctrines,  but  confining  themselves  to  common- 
place morality,  are  Cypher,  or  The  World  as  it  Goes 
(anon.,  1791),  and  Romulus:  A  Tale  of  Ancient 
Times,  an  adaptation  from  the  German,  by  Rev. 
P.  Mill  (not  dated). 

The  Last  Man,  or,  Omegarus  and  Syderia:  A 
Romance  of  Futurity  contains  certain  passages  on 
the  Revolutionary  philosophies  as  they  are  sup- 
posed to  be  regarded  by  a  remote  posterity.  "Ex- 
perience is  the  only  reason  of  man.  Maxims 
more  pernicious  than  the  plague  were  supposed 
beneficent  by  ages  which  deemed  themselves 
enlightened.     The  evils  which  these  maxims  create 


And  the  English  Novel  157 

cannot  be  described."^  The  only  other  points 
worth  noting  in  this  novel  of  prophecy  are  the 
forecasts  of  the  development  of  machinery,  and 
the  art  of  flying,  and  a  Malthusian  terror  of  over- 
population. ^ 

ril  Consider  of  It  (anon.,  1812),  a  novel  written 
in  obvious  imitation  of  Sterne,  has  for  its  unifying 
principle  the  exaltation  of  aristocratic  birth,  and 
the  evils  of  mesalliances.  A  typical  speech  of  the 
hero  is :  "  Such  are  the  maxims  of  those  who  are 
fond  of  innovations,  that  'virtue  alone  is  true 
nobility,'  and  all  such  commonplace  ideas.  I 
am  for  different  orders  and  degrees  of  men."^ 

Turning  from  the  noisy  warfare  over  ideas, 
religious  and  political,  to  the  underlying  realities 
of  the  economic  conflict,  we  come  upon  one  novel 
at  least  that  merits  attention.  The  Magic  of 
Wealth,  an  Antitank  Novel'^  is  a  protest,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  landed  classes  against  the  grow- 
ing supremacy  of  capital.  It  may  serve  to  indi- 
cate the  extent  to  which  the  age  was  aware  of  the 
real  natiure  of  the  changes  taking  place. 

There  are  three  principle  figtu"es  in  the  novel: 
Oldways,  Flimflam  the  banker,  and  Lyttleton, 
the  mysterious  stranger.     Mr.  Oldways  is  an  Old 

'  The  Last  Man,  anon.,  1806. 

^  This  particular  bogy  continued  to  cast  a  dark  shadow  over 
the  future  for  sociologists  as  late,  certainly,  as  Tennyson's  second 
Locksley  Hall.  In  the  twentieth  century  we  seem  to  prefer  the 
race  suicide  bogy. 

3  I'll  Consider  of  It,  vol.  ii.,  p.  179. 

*  By  E.  T.  Sun,  author  of  A  Winter  in  London,  etc.,  181 5. 


158  The  French  Revolution 

Whig,  of  the  school  of  Burke,  who  has  "the  sin- 
cerest  admiration  of  the  principles  of  the  British 
Constitution  as  recognized  at  the  era  of  the  Revo- 
lution," and  points  triumphantly  to  "the  morti- 
fying lesson  to  the  bigoted  worshippers  of  any 
human  theory  or  system  afforded  by  the  horrors 
of  the  French  Revolution."'     Old  ways  was 

born  and  bred  the  true  old  English  gentleman;  he 
possessed  no  part  of  the  trafficking  spirit  of  the  times. 
It  never  occurred  to  him  that  the  revenues  of  his 
estates  were  to  be  considered  only  so  much  capital.  .  .  . 
He  never  contemplated  the  necessity  of  engaging  in 
such  projects,  to  save  himself  from  being  overwhelmed 
by  the  effects  of  that  power,  which  paper  circulation 
imparted  to  every  dealer  in  every  article  of  general 
consumption.  ^ 

Oldways  finds,  however,  that  as  the  cost  of 
living  rises  his  expenses  are  enormously  increased 
through  no  fault  of  his  own.  Also,  his  tenantry 
are  becoming  steadily  poorer  and  less  able  to  pay 
even  his  moderate  rents.  He  refuses  to  follow 
the  general  practice  of  raising  rents.  He  likewise 
refuses  to  speculate.  Consequently,  he  is  fairly 
driven  out  of  the  country,  "until  principles  of 
sound  policy  shall  induce  the  government  to  adopt 
such  reforms  as  shall  restore  to  its  natural  and 
wholesome  influence  among  the  other  orders  of 

'  Magic  of  Wealth,  vol.  i.,  p.  174. 
^  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,p.  179. 


And  the  English  Novel  159 

the  state,  the  ranks  of  independent  country  gentle- 
men.'" "^ 

Oldways's  estate,  his  influence,  and  his  seat  in 
Parhament  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  upstart 
banker  Flimflam. 

Dangerous  crisis  when  a  skilful  manoeuvrer  by 
speculative  art  can  wrest  from  the  descendants  of  the 
ancient  nobility  the  means  of  supporting  with  neces- 
sary dignity  that  rank  and  influence  in  the  state  which 
the  wisdom  and  experience  of  their  ancestors  con- 
sidered and  confirmed  as  a  most  salutary  balance 
between  the  monarch's  power  and  the  people's  will.^ 

The  deus  ex  machina  who  interferes  at  this  crisis 
to  save  the  nation  from  the  consequences  of  wild 
speculation  and  a  loss  of  the  balance  of  power 
is  the  mysterious  stranger,  Lyttleton.^  He  has 
gained  possession  of  the  hidden  treasure  of  the 
Jesuits.  Returning  after  years  of  absence,  he 
reflects:  "With  wealth  that  gives  me  over  millions 
of  my  fellow  creatures  the  powers  of  the  genii  of 
romance  I  am  here  in  England  where  poverty  and 
wealth  are  terms  almost  synonymous  with  vice 
and  virtue."  4  He  decides  that  the  best  way  in 
which  he  can  serve  mankind  is  to  "apply  the  magic 

'  Magic  of  Wealth,  vol.  ii.,  p.  134. 

^  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  124. 

3  Of  course  he  turns  out  to  be  Oldways's  long-lost  nephew.  In 
novels  of  this  period  one  may  always  rest  assured  that  any  per- 
son not  otherwise  accounted  for  will  turn  out  to  be  someone's 
long-lost  something-or-other,  before  the  end  of  the  book. 

<  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  27. 


i6o  The  English  Novel 

of  real  wealth  in  order  to  counteract  the  evils 
which  have  originated  from  the  tricks  and  delu- 
sions of  selfish  impostors."  He  straightens  out 
the  banking  system  and  the  currency,  assists 
Oldways  and  his  friends,  and  exposes  Flimflam. 
The  novel  ends  with  a  moral : 

Happy  will  it  be  for  Old  England,  for  the  British 
Empire,  for  the  civilized  world,  when  the  manoeuvres 
of  such  mischievous  speculators  as  Flimflam  shall  no 
longer  be  successful;  and  when  the  character  and 
conduct  of  such  men  as  Mr.  Oldways  shall  be  rightly 
understood,  duly  honored,  and  generally  imitated.^ 

'  Magic  of  Wealth,  vol.  ii.,  p.  240. 


CHAPTER    V 

REVOLUTIONISTS  AND  RADICALS  OF 
VARIOUS  DEGREES 

SECTION    I  :   THE   NOVELS   OF   ROBERT   BAGE 

IN  considering  the  novels  of  Godwin  we  observed 
a  certain  divergence  between  the  personahties 
shown  in  his  Hfe,  in  his  novels,  and  in  his  philo- 
sophical writings.  In  the  case  of  Robert  Bage,  the 
man,  the  literary  artist,  and  the  thinker  are  so 
identified  that  it  is  hard  to  separate  them  even  for 
convenience  in  discussion.  His  six  novels  are  the 
spontaneous  expression  of  the  observations  and 
ideas  collected  in  a  long  and  useful  life.  One  no 
more  wishes  to  consider  them  apart  from  the 
biography  of  the  author  than  one  would  read 
The  Old  Benchers  of  the  Inner  Temple  without  wish- 
ing first  to  make  the  personal  acquaintance  of  Elia. 
Fortunately  there  are  few  among  our  little  group 
of  novelists  whom  we  may  know  more  intimately 
than  Bage.  The  accoimts  of  his  friends  Godwin 
and  Hutton,  letters,  and  the  memoir  which  Miss 
Hutton  supplied  for  Scott's  preface  to  his  edition 
of  B age's  novels  help  us  to  give  form  to  the 
personality  that  so  pervades  his  work.  ^     Robert 

'  Paul,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  263. 
II  161 


1 62  The  French  Revolution 

Bage  himself  comes  clearly  before  us, — a  success- 
ful manufacturer  and  the  son  of  a  manufacturer, 
belonging  with  Shakespeare  and  Chaucer  in  that 
honoiu-able  minority  of  imaginative  writers  who 
have  had  the  practical  qualities  necessary  to  make 
their  way  in  the  world  of  business.  After  a  good 
common  school  education,  where  he  early  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  proficiency  in  Latin,  he 
entered  his  father's  paper-mills.  When  he  had 
gained  the  necessary  experience,  he  set  up  for 
himself  as  a  paper  manufacturer  at  Elford.  He 
married  early  and  very  happily.  His  efficient 
management  left  him  time  for  wide  reading  and 
study;  at  the  age  of  fifty-three,  as  he  told  Godwin, 
the  failure  of  a  business  venture  "filled  him  with 
melancholy  thoughts,  and  to  dissipate  them  he 
formed  the  idea  of  a  novel  which  he  endeavoured 
to  fill  with  gay  and  cheerful  ideas.  At  first  he  had 
no  idea  of  publishing  what  he  wrote.  He  believes 
he  should  not  have  written  novels  but  for  the  want 
of  books  to  assist  him  in  any  other  literary  under- 
taking. "^  The  six  novels  which  he  published  at 
fairly  regular  intervals  during  the  next  fifteen 
years  were  all  decidedly  and  immediately  success- 
ful. 

To  this  meagre  outline  of  a  well-rounded  life  we 
may  add  some  sketches  of  the  man  as  he  appeared 
to  those  who  knew  him.  In  1797,  Godwin,  making 
a  pilgrimage  to  visit  the  sage,  writes  of  him  in  a 
letter  to  Mary  Wollstonecraf t : 

'  Paul,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  263. 


And  the  English  Novel  163 

I  found  him  imcommonly  cheerful  and  placid, 
simple  in  his  manners,  and  youthful  in  his  carriage. 
His  house  at  the  mill  was  floored  every  room  below 
stairs  with  brick,  like  that  of  a  common  farmer  in  all 
respects.  .  .  .  He  has  thought  much,  and  like  most  of 
those  persons  I  have  met  with  who  have  conquered 
many  prejudices  and  read  little  metaphysics,  is  a 
materialist.  His  favourite  book  on  this  point  is  the 
Systeme  de  la  Nature.^ 

A  fuller  account  is  given  by  Miss  Hutton,  the 
daughter  of  Bage's  old  friend. 

In  his  person,  Robert  Bage  was  rather  under  the 
middle  size,  and  rather  slender,  but  well  propor- 
tioned. His  complexion  was  fair  and  ruddy,  his  hair 
light  and  curling;  his  countenance  intelligent,  yet 
mild  and  placid.  His  manners  were  courteous,  and 
his  mind  was  firm.  His  integrity,  his  honour,  his 
devotion  to  truth,  were  undeviating  and  incorrup- 
tible: his  humanity,  benevolence  and  generosity  were 
not  less  conspicuous  in  private  life  than  they  were  in 
the  principal  characters  in  his  works.  He  supplied 
persons  he  never  saw  with  money  because  he  heard 
they  were  in  want.  He  kept  his  servants  and  his 
horses  to  old  age,  and  both  men  and  quadrupeds  were 
attached  to  him.  He  behaved  to  his  sons  with  the 
unremitting  affection  of  a  father;  but,  as  they  grew 
up,  he  treated  them  as  men  and  equals,  and  allowed 
them  that  independence  of  mind  and  conduct  which 
he  claimed  for  himself.  .  .  .  He  never  had  a  strong 
passion  for  wealth,  and  he  never  rose  to  opulence.^ 

'  Paul,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  262. 

'  Ballantyne' s  Novelists  Library,  vol.  ix.,  preface,  p.  xxiv. 


164  The  French  Revolution 

The  novels  of  Robert  Bage  are  precisely  what 
we  should  expect  of  such  a  man.  His  personality 
pervades  them  all;  kindly,  humorous,  even 
whimsical ;  keenly  observant  of  life,  and  genuinely 
enjoying  his  fellow-men.  He  belongs  rather  to  the 
tradition  of  Goldsmith  than  with  the  Gothic 
Romancers.  There  is  enough  plot  to  keep  the 
action  in  his  novels  from  stagnating,  but  little 
more.  The  author  is  principally  interested  in  the 
personalities  his  imagination  has  created.  It 
speaks  volumes  for  his  ability  that  neither  the 
meagreness  of  plot  nor  the  frank  didacticism  are 
at  any  time  felt  as  a  defect.  The  form  chosen 
(four  out  of  the  six  novels  are  series  of  letters), 
is  admirably  adapted  to  the  genial  and  sympathe- 
tic characterization  in  which  Bage  excells.  It  is 
not  a  crowded  canvas  that  he  presents  us;  rather, 
a  group  of  a  dozen  or  so  pleasant  people,  with  a 
background  of  events  and  a  few  unsympathetic 
types  lightly  sketched  in.  We  look  over  their 
shoulders  at  the  clever  letters  they  write  about 
each  other.  We  are  interested  in  the  various 
strands  of  their  lives,  and  not  less  interested  in  their 
shrewd  observations  on  the  world  of  contemporary 
thought.  The  zest  with  which  the  author  created 
these  people  is  contagious. 

The  general  framework  of  the  plots  of  each  novel 
may  be  given  in  a  few  words.  Mount  Henneth 
(published  1781),  derives  its  title  from  an  old 
castle  in  Wales  bought  by  a  wealthy  and  intelligent 
merchant  who  proposes  to  retire  there  with  his 


And  the  English  Novel  165 

daughter  and  such  congenial  people  as  he  can 
gather  about  him.  After  two  volumes  of  accidents 
and  incidents  in  which  they  become  acquainted, 
the  book  closes  with  a  quadruple  wedding,  and 
some  twelve  or  thirteen  people  settle  at  Mount 
Henneth  in  a  sort  of  pre-Coleridgean  Pantisocracy, 
where  the  gentlemen  work  for  a  short  time  each 
day,  and  in  the  afternoon  join  their  wives  in 
studies  and  amusement.  Bage  is  so  fond  of  these 
multiple  weddings,  that  often,  as  the  last  chapter 
of  a  novel  approaches,  the  reader  feels  with  Touch- 
stone that:  "There is,  sure,  another  flood  towards, 
and  these  couples  are  coming  to  the  ark ! ' ' 

Bar  ham  Downs  (1784),  is  a  similar  earthly 
paradise,  only  with  a  more  prominent  villain,  who 
complicates  matters  by  carrying  off  one  of  the 
heroines  to  force  her  into  a  manage  de  convenance. 
All  the  main  strands  of  plot  in  this  novel  find  their 
counterpart  somewhere  in  the  first.  Most  of  them 
are  the  usual  stock  in  trade  of  the  novelists  of 
Bage's  time. 

James  Wallace^  (1788)  has  a  somewhat  more 
unified  plot,  centring  in  an  individual  rather  than 
a  place.  The  hero,  setting  out  to  make  his  own 
way  in  the  world,  fails  as  a  lawyer  on  account  of 
his  over  generous  and  trusting  disposition.  After 
sundry  adventures  he  becomes  the  servant  of  a 

'  The  Fair  Syrian  (1787),  is  the  next  in  chronological  order. 
But  as  all  efforts  to  secure  a  copy  of  this  novel  have  hitherto  been 
unsuccessful,  it  must  be  omitted  from  our  discussion  for  the 
present. 


i66  The  French  Revolution 

young  lady  of  rare  charm  and  intelligence.  Find- 
ing that  he  loves  her,  and  that  her  kindness  to  him 
is  causing  gossip,  he  leaves  her.  After  various 
wanderings,  he  turns  out  to  be  the  long-lost  nephew 
of  a  certain  Irish  gentleman  who  has  befriended 
him,  wins  great  honour  in  a  sea  fight,  and  returns 
to  marry  his  Judith.  This  happy  love  story  is 
interwoven  with  a  sad  one.  A  boy  and  girl  attach- 
ment between  a  certain  young  gentleman  and  the 
daughter  of  his  tutor  is  broken  off  by  his  being  sent 
abroad  to  travel.  He  returns  no  longer  capable  of 
finding  happiness  in  right  living,  and  his  attempt  at 
kidnapping  his  former  sweetheart  being  foiled  by 
the  intervention  of  James  Wallace,  the  young  man 
goes  back  to  Paris  and  a  life  of  dissipation.  Several 
very  interesting  personalities  appear  in  the  course 
of  the  book- — ^Judith's  benevolent,  gruff  old  uncle; 
a  sea  captain,  his  friend;  and  Paracelsus  Holman, 
an  apothecary  of  great  scientific  attainments,  a  rare 
mixture  of  kindliness  and  shrewd  good  sense. 

The  last  two  of  Bage's  novels  were  written 
during  the  Revolution  in  France,  at  a  time  when 
the  reaction  against  liberal  ideas  had  already  begun 
in  England.  As  the  titles  indicate,  these  two 
novels  are  more  distinctly  and  consciously  doc- 
trinary  than  the  earlier  ones.  Yet  so  skilful  a 
literary  workman  is  Bage,  and  so  genuine  and 
vigorous  his  creative  ability,  that  instead  of 
degenerating  into  mere  argximents  these  show  a 
steady  gain  in  literary  merit.  Miss  Hutton  com- 
ments with  some  surprise  on  the  fact  that  "of 


And  the  English  Novel  167 

six  different  works  comprising  a  period  of  fifteen 
years,  the  last  is  unquestionably  the  best." 

Man  As  He  Is  (1792)  is  frankly  announced  by 
its  preface  as  a  novel  with  a  piu-pose.  In  plot  and 
treatment  it  is  the  simplest  of  the  six.  Bage  has 
deserted  the  letter  form  with  its  opportunities  for 
detailed  characterization  and  its  many  threads  of 
interest,  in  favour  of  direct  narrative.  A  fashion- 
able youth  of  good  average  character  falls  in  love 
with  a  young  woman  of  rare  intellect  and  refine- 
ment. She  refuses  to  receive  his  addresses  until 
he  can  win  her  respect.  He  goes  to  France  and 
there  falls  into  the  usual  dissipations,  all  of  which 
report  brings  to  the  knowledge  of  his  lady-love. 
After  several  futile  attempts  at  reform,  he  returns 
to  England  and  actually  falls  ill  from  despair  of 
ever  winning  her.  Naturally  (in  a  novel),  the 
lady  forgives  him,  waives  her  impossible  demands, 
marries  him,  and  he  reforms,  more  or  less.  There 
is  a  good  deal  of  social  satire  in  the  book,  and  many 
long  discussions  of  contemporary  ideas  and  events. 
Two  of  the  minor  characters  are  worthy  of  note: 
Mr.  Lindsay,  a  man  of  high  principles  and  culture 
whom  the  hero  rescues  from  a  debtors'  prison  and 
chooses  for  his  tutor;  and  Miss  Carlil,  a  spirited 
young  Quakeress  who  accompanies  the  heroine. 

The  last  of  Bage's  novels  was  pubHshed  in  1796, 
a  black  year  for  English  sympathizers  with  the 
French  Revolution.  France  had  disappointed 
political  idealists,  and  the  reaction  in  England 
against  their  principles  was  at  its  height.    The^note 


i68  The  French  Revolution 

of  wistfulness  in  Bage's  novel  of  the  ideal  man, 
Hermsprong,  Or  Man  As  He  Is  Not,  accords  well 
with  the  time.  The  sharp  conflicts  of  ideas  arising 
from  the  political  crisis  have  at  last  crystallized 
Bage's  very  liberal  sentiments  into  a  genuine 
radicalism.  The  book  not  only  shows  abundant 
evidences  of  the  influence  of  the  most  extreme 
political  thinkers  of  his  time,  but  contains  numer- 
ous direct  references  to  such  writers  as  Rousseau, 
Thomas  Paine,  and  Mary  WoUstonecraft.  Here 
gentle  satire  of  social  follies  and  shams  takes  on  a 
note  of  bitterness,  and  there  are  passages  of  vigor- 
ous denunciation  directed  against  specific  evUs  in 
the  body  politic.  Here  only  in  the  six  novels  does 
the  plot  itself  seem  chosen  primarily  as  a  vehicle 
for  the  expression  of  the  author's  politico-philo- 
sophical doctrines. 

Hermsprong,  the  protagonist  of  Bage's  social 
philosophy,  is  a  mysterious  young  man  who  has 
passed  the  first  twenty  years  of  his  life  among  the 
American  Indians.  After  some  four  years  of  travel 
through  Europe,  chiefly  on  foot,  and  a  brief  resi- 
dence in  France,  he  arrives  somewhat  abruptly 
upon  the  scene  of  the  story,  just  in  time  to  rescue 
the  heroine  from  a  runaway  horse.  When  his 
independence  of  manner  incurs  the  enmity  of  her 
father,  Lord  Grondale,  a  wealthy  and  dissipated 
old  nobleman,  our  stage  setting  is  complete.  The 
rest  of  the  novel  consists  principally  of  Herm- 
sprong's  comments  upon  the  evils  of  the  time  in 
politics  and  manners,  his  conflicts  with  prejudiced 


And  the  English  Novel  169 

persons,  and  his  philanthropic  activities.  In 
the  end,  of  course,  he  turns  out  to  be  the  miss- 
ing heir  of  Lord  Grondale's  estate,  and  marries 
his  daughter.  So  much  for  the  plot.  Our  in- 
terest here  is  with  the  character  of  Hermsprong, 
admittedly  the  exponent  of  Bage's  most  extreme 
doctrines. 

The  conception  of  introducing  a  man  of  uncon- 
ventional or  uncivilized  education  as  a  critic  of 
society  was  no  new  one  in  literature.  A  host  of 
familiar  figiires  occur  to  one's  mind — Crusoe's 
Friday,  The  Plain  Dealer,  the  Fool  of  Quality, 
Oronooko.  Voltaire's  Vingenu  (1767)  offers  a 
parallel  so  striking  that  it  is  difficult  to  believe 
Bage  was  not  influenced  by  this  version.  In- 
numerable likenesses  in  plot  and  sentiment  might 
be  pointed  out.  With  Rousseau's  preaching  of 
the  virtues  of  primitive  man  the  satirically  naive 
comment  from  the  standpoint  of  a  noble  savage 
received  a  new  popularity.  Professor  Cross  writes 
of  this  type-figure : 

He  was  an  evolution  under  the  influence  of  the  new 
philosophy,  of  Fielding's  Mr.  Square,  who  conducted 
himself  according  to  the  "unalterable  rule  of  right 
and  the  eternal  fitness  of  things. "  How  far  removed 
the  ethics  of  the  revolutionist  was  from  Fielding  is 
seen  by  their  attitude  towards  essentially  the  same 
gentleman.  In  Tom  Jones  he  was  a  villain;  in  Bage's 
Hermsprong  he  was  the  hero.' 

'  Cross,  Development  of  the  English  Novel,  p.  92. 


170  The  French  Revolution 

Even  in  treating  such  a  subject  as  the  perfect 
man  in  an  imperfect  state  of  society,  the  genial 
good  sense  of  Bage  saves  him  from  the  flights  of 
unbridled  idealism  which  were  the  curse  of  so 
many  thinkers  of  his  time.  Granting  the  early 
environment  Bage  presupposes,  Hermsprong  is  not 
unplausible.  Whenever  he  tends  to  become  too 
much  the  superman,  the  author  provides  some 
other  character  to  voice  with  sly  good  humour  the 
criticism  of  common  sense  and  common  kindness. 
From  his  savage  training  Hermsprong  has  acquired 
a  contempt  for  weakness.  He  is  fond  of  long  walks, 
"makes  a  pipe  and  ale  his  luxuries,  not  habits," 
and  despises  self-indulgence  in  all  forms.  He  is 
frankly  bored  by  long  dinners  and  the  elaborate 
ceremonies  of  polite  society;  by  no  means  an  un- 
heard of  characteristic  in  actual  life.  But  Herm- 
sprong does  not  condemn  civilization  wholesale  in 
favour  of  savage  life.  In  real  happiness,  he  thinks, 
the  gain  of  civilized  society  is  but  small.  But  he 
would  not  give  up  the  pleasures  of  the  mind  for  any 
of  the  compensations  of  primitive  life.  The  polit- 
ical and  philosophic  views  of  Hermsprong  are 
much  like  those  expressed  in  Bage's  other  novels, 
except  that  he  is  an  avowed  Republican,  as  might  be 
expected.  Of  the  French  Revolution  he  says,^  "it 
is  strange  and  new  as  to  the  causes  which  animate 
the  French;  for  as  to  the  means- — ^the  destruction 
of  the  human  species — it  has  been  a  favourite 
mode  with  power  of  every  denomination  ever  since 

'  Man  As  He  Is  Not,  vol.  i.,  p.  85. 


And  the  English  Novel  171 

power  was, "  but  he  "leaves  it  to  the  loyal  English- 
man to  approve  by  the  lump.  All  the  malignant  as 
well  as  all  the  better  passions  are  afloat  in  France ; 
and  malignant  actions  are  the  consequence.  Many 
of  the  acts  of  the  Assembly  are  acts  of  necessity, 
and  some,  no  doubt,  of  folly."'  America  ap- 
proaches nearer  to  his  ideal  state  of  society:  "Yet 
still  at  an  immense  distance  from  the  ultimatum, 
to  attain  which  manners  must  change  much,  and 
governments  more.  The  first  is  possible,  for 
manners  are  addicted  to  change.  The  latter  is 
hopeless.  Governments  do  not  change,  at  least 
for  the  better."^  Of  England  he  says  sadly: 
"Your  debts  and  other  consequences  of  having 
the  best  possible  of  all  governments  impose  upon 
you  the  necessity  of  being  the  first  workshop  in  the 
world.  You  labour  incessantly  for  happiness.  If 
you  find  it,  all  is  well. " 

Curiously,  Hermsprong's  manner  towards 
women  is  one  of  affected  gallantry:  he  acknow- 
ledges that  this  is  an  exception  to  his  principle  of 
universal  sincerity.  But  when  reluctantly  en- 
trapped into  a  serious  discussion  of  the  question, 
he  takes  a  thoroughly  progressive  stand  for  the 
education  and  human  dignity  of  women,  ending: 

Women  have  minds  untrained,  which  instead  of 
ranging  the  worlds  of  metaphysics  and  logic  are  con- 
fined to  these  ideas  of  routs  and  Ranelaghs.  ...     If 

'  Man  As  He  Is  Not,  vol.  ii.,  p.  164. 
^  Ibid.,  p.  162. 


172  The  French  Revolution 

"a  firm  mind  and  a  firm  body"  be  the  best  prayer  of 
men  to  the  gods,  why  not  of  women?  .  .  .  But  while 
they  think  as  much  of  their  charms  as  you  suppose  them 
to  do,  Mrs.  Wollstonecraft  must  write  in  vain.  .  .  . 
Be  not  angry  with  me.  Be  women  what  they  may,  I 
am  destined  to  be  their  adorer.  Be  angry  with  Mrs- 
Wollstonecraft,  who  has  lately  abused  the  dear  sex 
through  two  octavo  volumes.^ 

In  other  words,  Robert  Bage  was  not  very 
vitally  interested  in  that  part  of  the  revolution  in 
thought  which  pertained  to  the  position  of  women. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  he  had  done  a  good  deal  of 
thinking  about  woman.  In  his  earlier  novels  he 
theorizes  extensively  on  the  attitude  of  society 
towards  certain  phases  of  the  woman  question. 
But  in  this  last  novel  his  interest  is  centred  on 
other  issues.  He  evades  feminism  as  far  as  possible 
or  treats  the  whole  matter  with  a  whimsical 
sentimentality. 

After  considering  Bage's  novels  separately,  it 
may  prove  illuminating  to  summarize  those  radical 
principles  which  seemed  to  his  contemporaries  so 
dangerous.  They  may  be  grouped  under  two 
general  headings:  (i)  religious  and  ethical;  and 
(2)  political  and  economic. 

^  (i)     Doctrinal  disputes  seem  to  Robert  Bage 

'  Man  As  He  Is  Not,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  167,  168. 

'  Sir  Walter  Scott  oflFers  a  suggestion  of  considerable  import- 
ance at  this  point.  "Bage  appears,  from  his  pecuUar  style  to 
have  been  educated  a  Quaker,  and  he  always  painted  the  indi- 
viduals of  that  primitive  sect  of  Christians  in  amiable  colours, 


And  the  English  Novel  173 

futile  and  absiird.  His  books  give  abundant 
testimony  to  his  dislike  for  all  forms  of  bigotry. 
He  follows  the  radical  opinion  of  his  time  in  re- 
garding priests  and  kings  as  fellow-conspirators  to 
enslave  the  human  mind.  References  to  the 
ignorance  and  corruption  existing  among  the 
clergy  of  the  Established  Church  are  numerous,  but 
not  unfair.  Hermsprong  is  the  only  one  of  his 
novels  in  which  satire  on  the  clergy  seems  part  of  a 
deliberate  purpose,  and  even  here  there  is  a  cheer- 
ful admission  that  the  type  of  "Dr.  Blick"  is  by 
no  means  universal.  Nor  is  his  opposition  confined 
to  the  abuses  of  the  Established  Church :  dissenters 

when  they  are  introduced  as  personages  in  his  novels.  If  this 
was  the  case,  however,  he  appears  to  have  wandered  from  their 
tenets  into  the  wastes  of  scepticism. " 

Later  authorities  (Chalmers's  General  Biographical  Dictionary, 
etc.)  state  positively  that  Bage  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of 
Friends.  But  the  accounts  of  Bage  by  his  contemporaries,  Hutton 
and  Godwin,  wliich  form  the  basis  of  the  encyclopaedia  articles,  say 
nothing  of  this.  It  seems  probable  that  this  suggestion  of  Scott's, 
which  is  after  all  only  a  suggestion,  may  have  proved  misleading. 
If  Bage  presents  us  with  some  very  attractive  Quakers  it  is  also 
true  that  at  times  he  writes  rather  scathing  criticisms  of  that  sect. 
The  novels  themselves  can  hardly  be  said,  therefore,  to  offer 
conclusive  evidence  on  this  point.  Neither  can  such  characteris- 
tics of  Bage's  as  his  dislike  of  war,  of  duelling,  and  of  extravagances 
in  dress  be  taken  as  evidence.  There  were  many  opinions  which 
the  Revolutionary  sympathizers  held  in  common  with  the 
Quakers.  Mrs.  Opie  passes  quite  naturally  from  Godwin's 
particular  clique  into  the  Society  of  Friends. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  in  his  History  of  Derby  Hutton 
gives  a  list  of  the  dissenting  denominations  represented  in  the 
neighbourhood  in  which  Bage  lived;  and  the  Society  of  Friends  is 
not  among  them. 


174  The  French  Revolution 

of  all  sorts,  even  Quakers,  come  in  for  their  share 
of  shrewd  criticism.  Perhaps  the  real  attitude  of 
Bage  in  matters  of  religion  is  most  fully  expressed 
by  James  Foston,  a  character  whom  Bage  might 
well  have  drawn  from  the  mirror. 

The  mere  ceremonial  forms  of  religion  I  had  learned 
among  you  English  to  think  of  very  little  account. 
The  perpetual  view  of  these  absurdities  engrafted  in 
my  mind  a  strong  contempt.  Thus  I  came  at  length 
to  bound  my  own  religion  within  the  narrow,  (though 
to  me  comprehensive) ,  bounds  of  the  silent  meditation 
of  a  contrite  heart  lifting  up  its  humble  aspiration  to 
the  Author  and  Preserver  of  all  being,  by  what  name 
soever  called  throughout  the  universe.  All  the  rest 
appears  to  me  invention  or  convention,  sometimes 
useful,  sometimes  detrimental  to  mankind.  I  speak 
not  of  moral  duties;  they  are  of  another  class. ^ 

But  whatever  his  own  belief,  the  one  point  which 
he  emphasizes  again  and  again  is  the  necessity 
of  tolerance  and  courteous  open-mindedness  in 
discussing  all  matters  of  opinion,  religious  and 
political. 

Bage  is  very  careful  to  distinguish  between 
matters  of  opinion,  for  which  a  man  is  not  re- 
sponsible, and  matters  of  conduct.  He  is  not  so 
clear  as  to  the  distinction  between  feeling  and 
conduct.  Occasionally  the  "bosom  heaving  with  a 
story  of  distress"  is  taken  as  an  incontrovertible 
proof  of  moral  integrity.     But  on  the  whole,  in 

'  Mount  Henneth,  Ballantyne's  Novelists  Library,  vol.  ix.,  p.  165. 


And  the  English  Novel  175 

ethical  theory  as  well  as  in  literary  practice,  Bage 
is  fairly  free  of  Sentimentalism. 

Contrary  to  Holbach  and  Helvetius,  Bage  asserts 
firmly  that:  "There  do  exist  motives  in  human 
action  that  cannot  be  traced  to  love  of  self. "  But 
the  basis  of  his  ethical  system  is  that:  "Virtue 
alone  can  secure  true  happiness."  Virtue  he 
defines  as:  "Action  directed  for  the  benefit  of 
mankind."'  The  only  standards  of  honour  or  of 
courtesy  he  recognizes  are  those  founded  on 
sincerity,  benevolence,  and  good  sense.  Hence  he 
consistently  opposes  duelling,  and  all  the  ostenta- 
tion and  formality  of  the  polite  society  of  his 
time. 

In  1824,  twenty-three  years  after  the  death  of 
the  author,  Sir  Walter  Scott  included  three  of 
Bage's  novels  in  a  collection  which  he  was  editing.  ^ 
The  preface  written  on  this  occasion  is  for  our 
purpose  a  very  significant  one.  Scott  evidently 
finds  himself  in  the  awkward  position  of  enjoying 
the  work  of  a  man  whose  whole  point  of  view  he 
considers  in  the  highest  degree  dangerous  to 
society.  He  is  praising  under  protest;  and  it 
speaks  well  for  the  critical  fairness  of  the  politically 
conservative  Sir  Walter  that  the  estimate  he  gives 
us  of  Bage  as  a  man  and  as  a  novelist  is  both  just 
and  generous.  "But  if  not  vicious  himself,"  says 
Scott,  "Bage's  leading  principles  are  such  as  if 
acted  upon  would  bring  vice  into  society;  such 

'  Mount  Henneth,  Ballantyne' s  Novelists  Library,  vol.  ix.,  p.  117. 
^  Ballantyne' s  Novelists  Library. 


176  The  French  Revolution 

being  the  case  it  was  the  editor's  duty  to  point  out 
the  sophistry  upon  which  they  were  founded. " 

The  charges  against  Bage  are  various.  He  has 
"wandered  into  the  wastes  of  scepticism.  His 
religious  opinions  are  those  of  a  sectary  who  has 
reasoned  himself  into  an  infidel  .  .  .  and  could  be 
a  friend  neither  to  the  Church  of  England  nor  to  the 
doctrine  she  teaches."  His  code  of  ethics  is  un- 
sound, based  upon  "the  self-sufficient  morality  of 
modern  philosophy. " '  Scott  had  no  great  opinion 
of  the  novel  as  a  vehicle  for  influencing  public 
thought,  or  it  is  questionable  whether  any  amount 
of  literary  merit  would  have  induced  him  to  include 
Bage  in  his  collection. 

(2)  The  extreme  nature  of  the  religious  and  eth- 
ical principles  we  have  considered  is  somewhat  less 
apparent  after  the  lapse  of  a  century.  But  for  the 
warning  preface,  we  should  hardly  be  in  a  position 
to  realize  how  dangerous  Robert  Bage  appeared  to 
his  conservative  contemporaries.  The  charge  of 
prejudice  which  Scott  brings  against  Bage's  politi- 
cal point  of  view  must  be  taken  more  seriously. 

His  opinions  of  state  affairs  [he  shrewdly  suggests], 
were  perhaps  a  little  biased  by  frequent  visits  of  the 
excisemen  who  levied  taxes  on  his  commodities  for 
the  purpose  of  maintaining  a  war  which  he  disapproved 
of.  It  is  most  natural  that  a  person  who  considered 
tax-gatherers  extortioners,  and  soldiers  who  were 
paid  by  the  taxes,  as  licensed  murderers,  should 
conceive  the  whole  existing  state  of  human  affairs  to 

'  Ballantyne's  Novelists  Library,  vol.  ix.,  preface  p.  xxvi. 


And  the  English  Novel  i77 

be  wrong;  and  if  he  was  conscious  of  talent  and  the 
power  of  composition,  he  might  at  the  same  time 
fancy  that  he  was  called  upon  to  put  it  to  rights.^ 

This  suggestion  resolves  itself  into  two  separate 
charges:  the  first,  that  Bage  conceives  the  whole 
existing  system  to  be  wrong ;  secondly,  that  he  bases 
this  opinion  upon  a  wrongness  in  that  portion  of  the 
social  system  that  affects  him  as  an  individual.  If 
we  turn  to  the  novels  themselves  for  evidence,  we 
shall  find  that  while  both  these  statements  are  to 
some  extent  true,  neither  is  true  without  com- 
ment and  explanation. 

There  is  a  very  real  distinction,  and  one  which 
cannot  be  too  constantly  borne  in  mind  in  our 
discussion,  between  the  man  who  denounces  the 
corruptions  and  abuses  into  which  society  has 
fallen,  and  the  man  who  believes  these  abuses  to 
be  inherent  in  the  very  structure  of  society,  the 
direct  and  inevitable  result  of  the  existing  system. 
It  is  the  distinction  between  the  Reformer  and  the 
Revolutionist.  Holcroft,  Godwin,  and  Shelley  are 
Revolutionists  by  nature,  Radicals  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word;  their  axe  is  laid  to  the  root  of 
society,  and  no  judicious  prunings  and  piirifications 
will  satisfy  them.  Bage,  on  the  contrary,  in  his 
first  four  novels  nowhere  implies  that  "the  whole 
existing  state  of  affairs  is  wrong, "  and  he  certainly 
has  no  intention  of  putting  it  right  by  propaganda 
novels. 

'  Ballanlyne's  Novelists  Library,  vol.  ix.,  preface,  p.  xxvi. 


1 78  The  French  Revolution 

The  following  is  fairly  typical  of  the  nature  of 
his  criticisms  of  society.  In  Barham  Downs,  Sir 
Ambrose  Archer  writes  to  a  friend : 

I  also,  Mr.  Councillor  Brevity,  am  a  man  of  im- 
portance, a  public  man  sir,  of  the  patriotic  gender. 
I  am  returned  from  a  meeting  called  an  association, 
the  object  of  which  is  to  call  upon  Parliament  with  a 
loud  voice  for  the  redress  of  our  grievances.  And 
what  are  your  grievances  says  a  well  pensioned  gentle- 
man, Mr.  T'otherside.  The  Crown  hath  acquired  too 
much  influence  in  the  worst  of  all  possible  ways, 
corruption.  That  our  representatives  injure  their 
health — by  too  long  sitting.  That  as  we  never  saw 
the  least  possible  benefit  from  engaging  in  the  Ameri- 
can war,  we  see  as  little  from  its  continuance.  Fin- 
ally, that  the  ministers  carry  their  contempt  for 
money  (public  money,  we  mean)  to  an  extreme.^ 

Bage  considers  the  Administration  corrupt, 
negligent,  and  inefficient.  He  believes  that  popu- 
lar elections  are  reduced  to  a  farce.  His  final 
warnings  and  denunciations,  however,  are  directed 
not  against  tyranny  and  oppression  but  against  the 
growing  extravagance  and  love  of  display.  The 
luxury  and  ostentation  of  those  who  have  accu- 
mulated large  fortunes  have  corrupted  all  classes 
of  society.  He  looks  back  wistfully  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century  (before  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion), "when  nabobs  were  not." 

It  is  the  last  two  novels,  written  after  the  out- 

'  Ballantyne's  Novelists  Library,  vol.  ix.,  p.  294. 


And  the  English  Novel  179 

break  of  the  French  Revolution  (not  included  in 
Scott's  collection) ,  which  give  Scott  a  certain  basis 
for  the  first  half  of  his  statement.  The  storm  of 
radical  philosophies  which  accompanied  the  politi- 
cal phenomena  on  the  continent,  and  their  English 
interpretations  in  the  works  of  such  men  as  God- 
win and  Paine,  served  to  generalize  Bage's  spe- 
cific dissatisfactions  with  the  Government.  The 
reaction  that  came  with  the  outbreak  of  war  in 
1793,  and  the  harsh  repressive  measures  adopted 
toward  Revolutionists  crystallized  his  theories  into 
a  demand  for  genuinely  radical  changes.  Man  As 
He  Is  and  Man  As  He  Is  Not  are,  as  we  have  seen, 
conscious  expressions  of  a  political  point  of  view. 
Bage  at  this  time  endorses  the  Rights  of  Man, 
considers  the  government  of  the  United  States 
on  the  whole  the  most  perfect  in  existence,  and  has 
good  hopes  that  in  the  end  France  will  return  to 
liberty  and  peace.  But  be  it  observed  that  even 
in  the  height  of  his  Revolutionary  fervour  Bage 
desires  no  anarchistic  Utopia.  He  merely  ex- 
presses a  growing  conviction  that  the  maladjust- 
ments of  his  time  lie  too  deep  to  be  reached  by 
reform.  In  no  single  paragraph  does  he  declare  it 
essential  that  England  should  become  a  republic; 
but  that  is  implied  as  an  alternative  to  changes 
in  the  existing  form  almost  as  sweeping. 

We  may,  I  think,  admit  the  truth  of  Scott's 
second  charge,  that  Bage's  political  theories  are 
largely  the  outgrowth  of  his  practical  experience, 
without  reflecting  at  all  upon  the  disinterestedness 


i8o  The  French  Revolution 

of  our  genial  paper  mantifacturer.  As  a  successful 
business  man  and  a  humane  and  intelligent 
employer,  he  was  in  a  position  to  realize  all  the 
maladjustments  arising  from  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion. Hence  there  is  a  definiteness  and  practicality 
in  his  ideals  of  government  that  is  lacking  in  the 
work  of  professional  literary  men  like  Godwin  and 
Holcroft.  Moreover,  if  B age's  opinions  were 
coloured  by  his  life,  it  is  also  true  that  his  life 
conformed  to  his  opinions.  It  is  from  the  little 
brick -floored  cottage  beside  his  own  prosperous 
factory  that  he  directs  his  shafts  of  satire  against 
the  money-snobs,  great  and  small. 

SECTION  2  :  NOVELS  REPRESENTING  MISCELLANEOUS 
NOVELISTS 

In  considering  the  work  of  those  novelists  most 
completely  imbued  with  the  Revolutionary  philo- 
sophies and  the  novels  written  in  opposition  to 
them,  it  is  apparent  that  we  have  by  no  means 
covered  our  field.  As  in  every  strongly  marked 
intellectual  movement,  the  opinions  of  the  full 
adherents  of  Revolutionism  were  reflected  in  vary- 
ing degrees  by  a  large  niunber  of  sympathizers. 
These  range  from  an  almost  complete  acceptance 
of  the  doctrines  of  Paine  and  Godwin  to  the  merest 
Whig  liberalism,  or  to  a  Sentimentalism  that 
vaguely  acknowledges  a  kinship  with  that  of 
Rousseau. 

Robert  Bage,  the  only  novelist  of  this  class  whose 


And  the  English  Novel  i8i 

life  and  works  merit  detailed  consideration,  may- 
be taken  as  typical.  He  represents  the  intelligent 
and  disinterested  Radical;  unaffected  by  the  ab- 
surdities of  Pure  Reason,  yet  perceiving  a  funda- 
mental justice  in  many  of  the  charges  brought 
against  existing  conditions.  Our  discussion  of  Bage 
may  be  supplemented  by  a  brief  review  of  a  num- 
ber of  novels  illustrating  other  types  of  Revolu- 
tionary sympathies. 

Perhaps  the  earliest  example  of  tendenz  fiction 
we  need  examine  is  a  curious  old  novel  entitled 
The  Man  in  the  Moon:  or,  Travels  Into  the  Lunar 
Regions  by  the  Man  of  the  People  (1783,  anon.). 
This  is  a  satire  on  Charles  James  Fox,  probably 
by  a  fellow  Whig  of  a  somewhat  more  conservative 
temper.  Already,  it  appears,  there  were  fore- 
shadowings  of  these  doctrines  which  later  seemed 
so  dangerous  to  men  of  the  type  of  Burke. 

The  plan  of  the  satire  is  rather  fantastic.  The 
Man  of  the  Moon  determines  to  enlighten  and 
reform  C — s  F — x,  called  The  Man  of  the  People, 
a  statesman  of  ability  who  has  been  led  into 
demagoguery  by  his  love  of  power.  His  edu- 
cation is  conducted  by  a  trip  to  the  moon,  which 
a  student  (the  author) ,  is  assigned  to  the  duty  of 
reporting.  In  the  moon,  Fox  meets  and  converses 
with  great  orators  and  statesmen  of  the  past, 
and  sees  the  punishments  necessary  to  purify 
them  from  the  faults  of  ambition,  self-interest, 
and  treachery. 

It  is  significant,  however,  that  throughout  the 


1 82  The  French  Revolution 

book  there  are  continual  praises  of  "ancient 
republican  virtues,"  the  "foolish  titles  which  at 
present  prevail  in  Europe"^  are  denounced,  and 
the  forerunners  of  the  Pure  Reason  philosophers 
are  quoted  with  approval.  Hume  is  made  a  sort 
of  tutelary  spirit  in  the  moon.  "Price,  Clarke, 
Wollaston  and  others  who  maintain  that  moral 
distinctions  are  perceived  by  the  active  energy 
of  the  intellect  are  right  in  their  speculations."^ 
Fox  is  much  impressed  by  his  trip  to  the  moon,  and 
promises  "not  to  have  any  hand  in  destroying  the 
constitution  of  England,"  or  at  least  that:  "It 
will  proceed  from  a  dread  of  being  excluded  from 
office  if  I  shall  ever  be  reduced  to  so  direful  a 
necessity.  "3 

In  1789,  the  date  of  the  actual  beginning  of  the 
French  Revolution,  there  appeared  two  novels 
containing  no  very  startling  doctrines  but  signifi- 
cant of  the  trend  of  popular  interest.  The  Bastile, 
or  The  Adventures  of  Charles  Townley  (anon.)  is 
merely  a  pleasant  satire  on  fashionable  France. 
The  author  states  in  the  first  chapter  his  nearest 
approach  to  a  "doctrine": 

A  vanity  of  illustrious  ancestry  is  a  prevailing  and 
universal  passion,  though  the  most  cursory  observer 
must  perceive  that  there  is  much  real  honour  to  be 
met  with  among  men  whose  arms  are  not  blazoned 
in  the  herald's  office.* 

The  Amicable  Quixote,  or,   The  Enthusiasm  of 

'  The  Man  in  the  Moon,  vol.  ii.,  p.  39.         '  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  139. 
J  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  35.  ■•  TJie  Bastile,  vol.  i.,  p.  i. 


And  the  English  Novel  183 

Friendship  (1789,  anon.)  is  a  novel  of  the  "ruling 
passion"  variety.  Here,  too,  there  is  considerable 
satire  directed  against  pride  of  birth.  The  hero 
wins  his  lady  through  serving  her  in  the  disguise 
of  a  butler.^  The  lady  herself  is  not  without 
interest.  She  might  almost  be  considered  a  proto- 
type of  "Lady  Susan. "^  She  had  "most  noble 
sentiments  and  very  high  ideas  of  propriety;  but 
this  sense  of  decorum  would  sometimes  evaporate 
in  the  vindication  of  her  own  liberty.  "^  Evi- 
dently this  type  of  heroine  was  not  unknown  before 
the  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Women. 

In  1794  appeared  an  adaptation  from  the  Ger- 
man of  Professor  Kramer's  Hermon  of  Unna:  A 
Series  of  Adventures  of  the  Fifteenth  Century,  with  a 
preface  pointing  out  that  "the  horrors  of  the  Star 
Chamber,  the  Inquisition,  and  the  Bastile"  are 
among  the  "consequences  that  follow  when  men 
yield  up  their  understandings  to  the  dictate  of 
authority.  Let  us  remember  this,  and  con- 
gratulate ourselves  that  we  are  born  in  an  age  of 
illumination,  and  at  a  time  when  the  artifices  of 
superstition  and  tyranny  are  fated  to  vanish 
before  the  touch  of  truth."'' 

The  rebellion  of  the  Vendee  furnished  material 
for  at  least  one  novel,  partly  historical  and  partly 
tendenz  in  treatment,  which  has  Charlotte  Corday 

'  Cf.  Bage's  James  Wallace,  pub.  the  preceding  year. 

*  Cf.  Robert  and  Adela,  discussed  in  Chapter  VII.,  Sec.  3. 
3  Amicable  Quixote,  vol.  i.,  p.  30. 

*  Hermon  of  Unna,  preface,  p.  i. 


1 84  The  French  Revolution 

for  a  heroine  and  Marat  for  villain.'  The  ficti- 
tious part  of  the  story  centres  in  the  "Countess 
de  Narbonne, "  an  "Aristocrat"  who  has  been 
forced  by  the  Commune  under  Marat  to  marry  a 
coarse  and  brutal  hanger-on  of  the  Convention. 
Distrusted  alike  by  her  own  party  and  by  her 
husband's  Republican  associates,  the  unhappy 
Countess  lives  in  proud  seclusion  on  her  estate  in 
the  Vendee.  Charlotte  Cordet,  =*  whose  father  owns 
a  neighbouring  estate,  becomes  her  devoted  friend. 
The  Countess  gives  refuge  to  a  mysterious  Princess 
Victorine,  a  daughter  of  Emperor  Joseph  by  a 
morganatic  marriage,  whom  the  Royalists  wish  to 
raise  to  the  throne  of  France.  After  many  vicissi- 
tudes the  Countess  escapes  to  England,  with 
Victorine  and  her  lover.  Marat  has  persecuted 
them  relentlessly,  and  finally  causes  the  death  of 
Charlotte's  father  and  lover.  The  novel  closes  with 
his  assassination  by  Charlotte  and  her  execution. 

Although  the  author  is  evidently  more  interested 
in  the  dramatic  than  in  the  philosophical  values  of 
the  French  Revolution,  she  makes  numerous  signi- 
ficant comments.  Her  own  attitude  towards  the 
Revolution  is  a  Whiggism,  conservative  when  com- 
pared with  even  so  mild  a  radical  as  Bage,  very 
liberal  in  contrast  to  that  of  the  country  at  large. 

'  Adelaide  de  Narbonne,  with  Memoirs  of  Charlotte  de  Cordet, 
1800.  ""Qy  the  axLihor  oi  Henry  of  Northumberland"  (evidently, 
a  woman;  speaks  of  herself  as  "she"). 

*This  curious  spelling  of  the  heroine's  name  occurs  without 
apparent  significance.  No  eflfort  is  made  to  conceal  her  identity 
under  a  fictitious  personality. 


And  the  English  Novel  185 

The  errors  committed  in  its  different  stages  are  by- 
no  means  approved  of  by  me  [she  writes],  but  I  exe- 
crate rather  the  necessity  of  the  times  from  which 
they  proceed,  than  the  unfortunate  individuals  who 
are  forced  to  have  recourse  to  them.* 

She  quotes  Hume  with  approval ;  but  she  nowhere 
falls  into  the  popular  error  of  dividing  her  charac- 
ters into  sheep  and  goats  on  the  basis  of  their 
political  convictions.  Charlotte  is  described  as 
"a  Republican,  but  a  rational  one.  She  wished  for 
reforms  in  a  government  which  even  the  most 
sanguine  advocates  for  monarchy  cannot  deny 
wanted  them.  "^  Her  lover,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  an  aristocrat;  "but  his  principles,  like  her 
own,  were  rational,  and  of  course  tended  equally  to 
the  same  end,  though  the  means  used  for  attempt- 
ing it  might  vary  a  little.  "^ 

Another  novel  appealing  by  its  title  to  popular 
interest  in  the  Revolution  is  Arthur  Mervin,  or, 
Memoirs  of  the  Year  1793,  by  Charles  Brockden 
Brown,  1803.  The  action  takes  place  chiefly  in 
Philadelphia.  The  author  is  obviously  somewhat 
influenced  by  Godwin;  but  his  interests  are 
humanitarian  rather  than  political.'' 

Less  Revolutionary  and  more  distinctively  hu- 
manitarian in  its  purpose  is  Asmodeiis,  or,    The 

'  Adelaide  de  Narbonne,  vol.  i.,  p.  185. 
'  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  31. 
3  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  154. 

■•  Cf.  section  on  Godwin,  for  connexion  between  ideas  of 
Revolution  and  humanitarianism. 


i86  The  French  Revolution 

Devil  in  London  (1808,  anon.).  The  preface 
describes  this  as  a  novel  of  anecdote,  with  machin- 
ery borrowed  from  Le  Sage.  Few  aspects  of  Lon- 
don Hfe  escape  the  shrewd,  satiric  comment  of 
Asmodeus,  but  his  severest  strictures  are  directed 
against  the  prison  system,  private  mad-houses 
conducted  without  supervision,  and  ostentatious 
and  inefficient  charities.  Among  other  subjects 
discussed  are  freedom  of  the  press,  dueUing, 
fashionable  extravagance,  the  French  police,  and 
the  evil  influences  of  Methodists,  Illuminati,  and 
other  types  of  enthusiast.  There  is  an  interesting 
passage  in  the  discussion  of  suicide : 

Here  rest  the  bones  of  a  woman  of  uncommon 
talents  and  singular  opinions.  Her  writings  will  be 
long  remembered,  although  their  dangerous  tendency 
will  be  regretted;  for  whatever  error  attached  either 
to  her  life  or  opinions  was  the  effect  of  principle — but 
of  principle  founded  on  the  chimeras  of  a  visionary.^ 

Naturally,  the  anti-slavery  movement  was  one 
of  great  significance  for  both  humanitarian  and 
Revolutionary  sympathizers.  Since  the  time  of 
Oronooko,  the  noble-minded  negro  had  been  a 
familiar  figure  in  sentimental  fiction.  To  the 
Rousseauist  he  acquired  a  peculiar  interest  as 
exemplifying  primitive  man  in  an  ideal  state  of 
natiu"e.  To  the  Godwinian  philosopher,  chattel 
slavery  was  an  especially  flagrant  violation   of 

'  It  will  be  remembered  that  Mary  WoUstonecraft  twice 
attempted  suicide. 


And  the  English  Novel  187 

political  justice.  To  the  practical  reformer,  the 
slave  trade  was  one  of  the  burning  issues  of  the 
time.  As  early  as  1780  Burke  had  prepared  a 
code  for  the  gradual  abolition  of  the  slave  traffic. 
In  1788  he  "spoke  strongly  to  the  effect  that  the 
trade  was  one  which  ought  to  be  totally  abolished, 
but  if  this  was  not  now  possible  it  ought  to  be  regu- 
lated at  once. " ' 

In  1792  appeared  the  best  known  of  the  anti- 
slavery  novels,  Mackenzie's  Slavery,  or,  The  Times. 
The  plot  is  characteristic:  Zimza,  king  of  Tonou- 
wah,  an  eighteenth  century  Oronooko,  sends  his 
son  to  England  to  be  educated,  under  the  care  of 
his  friend  Hamilton,  with  the  instruction,  "Re- 
mind him  of  his  dignity  as  a  man,  but  let  him 
claim  no  consequence  from  his  birth.  "^  The 
negro  prince,  "full  of  the  grandeiu*  of  untaught 
soul,"  makes  the  usual  naive  comments  on  civili- 
zation, cannot  be  taught  the  distinction  between 
courtesy  and  lies,  etc.,  etc.  Meanwhile  Zimza  is 
captured  and  sold  as  a  slave.  The  prince  and 
Hamilton  rescue  him,  and,  after  sundry  adventiu-es 
in  England  and  France,  they  return  together  to 
the  virtuous  (and  uncivilized)  realm  of  Tonouwah. 

'  Lecky,  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century,  vol.  vi.,  p.  219. 
The  slave  trade  was  not  abolished,  however,  until  1807.  It  seems 
a  curious  bit  of  irony  that  it  was  the  panic  created  by  the  French 
Revolution  that  delayed  this  reform.  Danton  testified  that  one 
of  the  motives  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  French  colonies 
was  the  hope  of  inciting  the  negroes  in  the  colonies  of  England 
to  revolt;  hardly  a  step  to  conciliate  English  opponents  of  eman- 
cipation. '  Slavery,  or,  the  Times,  vol.  i.,  p.  4. 


i88  The  French  Revolution 

Mackenzie's  comments  on  the  French  Revolution 
are  somewhat  adverse;  he  is  a  pure  Rousseauist, 
not  a  RepubHcan.  His  Frenchmen  tell  Hamil- 
ton: "The  liberty  we  contend  for  blossoms  sweetly 
in  your  nation.  Had  our  mode  of  government 
been  mild  as  yours,  the  rights  of  royalty  would 
have  been  equally  secure."'  Even  an  American 
is  made  to  say:  "When  I  fought  in  America,  it  was 
to  protect  my  property.  Even  then  my  heart  spoke 
in  favour  of  monarchy ;  and  though  I  detest  all  arbi- 
trary power,  I  am  much  against  unprincipled 
liberty."" 

At  about  the  same  time  there  were  published 
in  England  adaptations  of  a  somewhat  similar 
novel  from  the  French.  At  least  two  versions 
appeared,  under  different  titles:  Itanoko,  or  The 
Noble  Minded  Negro,  and  The  Negro  Equalled  by 
Few  Europeans.  This  is  an  appeal  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  pure  reason  rather  than  to  Rousseauistic 
benevolence.  The  plot  is  of  course  a  variation  of 
the  usual  theme:  the  noble  savage  kidnapped  into 
slavery. 

An  indirect  method  of  attacking  or  defending 
the  institution  of  monarchy  was  the  publication  of 
semi-fictitious  memoirs.  In  1794  there  appeared 
an  English  adaptation  of  a  French  work,  Interest- 
ing Memoirs  of  Marie  Antoinette,  Ci-devant  Queen 
of  France.  One  would  infer  from  this  highly 
scandalous  narrative  that  her  execution  was 
amply  justified. 

'  Slavery,  vol.  ii.,  p.  237,  '  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  215. 


And  the  English  Novel  189 

Another  fictitious  memoir,  published  soon  after, 
presented  royalty  in  a  more  favourable  light. 
Henrietta,  Princess  Royal  of  England,  Daughter  of 
King  Charles  I.  (1796)  professes  to  be  a  narrative 
by  the  Comtesse  de  Lafayette  (grandmother  of 
the  Revolutionary  Marquis) ,  which  was  brought  to 
light  by  the  sacking  of  the  Louvre,  and  immedi- 
ately suppressed  in  France  by  the  Revolutionary 
government. 

The  censure  of  royalty  by  no  means  confined 
itself  to  that  of  other  nations.  In  1812  appeared 
The  Spirit  of  the  Book,  or,  Memoirs  of  Caroline, 
Princess  of  Hapsbourg:  A  Political  and  Amatory 
Romance,  by  Captain  T.  Ashe.  This  makes  its 
appeal  rather  to  a  love  of  scandal  than  to  any 
political  sentiments,  and  but  for  occasional  spiteful 
attacks  on  the  morale  of  courts  and  kings  in  general 
would  not  call  for  mention  here.  ^ 

The  novels  of  Thomas  Love  Peacock  have  some 
claim  to  be  included  in  our  discussion.  There  is 
scarcely  one  of  them  which  does  not  express  Re- 
volutionary sentiments.  Maid  Marian  (18 18) 
especially  contains  many  passages  of  political  the- 
orizing that  might  have  been  written  by  Shelley 
or  Godwin  himself.  A  detailed  consideration  of 
Peacock's  novels  would,  however,  add  little  to  our 
discussion.  Peacock's  Revolutionism  is  at  best 
sympathetic  and  derivative.  His  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  the  Shelley  group,  together  with  a 

'  It  should  perhaps  be  made  clear  that  the  Charlotte  of  Haps- 
bourg here  mentioned  was  Princess  of  Wales. 


190  The  English  Novel 

certain  irritable  dislike  of  the  established  regime  in 
Church  and  State,  gave  a  Revolutionary  bent  to  his 
satire.  But  the  vital  impetus  of  Revolutionism 
had  spent  itself  before  it  reached  Peacock.  He  is 
the  echo  of  an  echo.  In  spirit,  if  not  altogether  in 
actual  chronology,  his  novels  belong  a  generation 
later  than  the  period  we  are  consideriag. 

This  part  of  our  discussion  might  be  expanded 
almost  indefinitely.  So  extensive  is  the  material 
available  and  so  varied  the  shades  of  opinion 
represented  that  our  selection  must  necessarily 
be  somewhat  arbitrary.  Little  is  to  be  gained  by 
multiplying  illustration.  It  is  already  clear  that 
novels  dealing  with  the  ideas  and  tendencies 
associated  with  the  French  Revolution  represent 
almost  as  many  different  points  of  view  as  there 
were  novelists.  We  are  dealing  with  very  complex 
reactions  to  a  very  complex  movement ;  it  is  im- 
possible to  do  more  than  indicate  certain  general 
types  of  opinion. 


CHAPTER  VI 

SOME  TYPICAL    LADY    NOVELISTS  OF  THE 
REVOLUTION 

SECTION    I  :     MRS.    ELIZABETH  INCHBALD 

ONE  of  the  literary  features  of  the  later 
eighteenth  century  in  England  was  the 
large  crop  of  Lady  Novelists.  A  Lady  Novelist, 
be  it  observed,  is  altogether  a  different  thing  from 
a  woman  who  writes  novels.  The  latter  may  some- 
times allow  us  to  forget  her  sex ;  the  former,  never. 
There  is  a  soft  rustle  of  skirts  in  every  page,  from 
the  little  bobs  and  curtsies  of  her  preface  to  the 
gentle  severity  of  the  sermonette  with  which  she 
concludes.  Her  style  is  redolent  of  delicate 
femininity.  She  is  the  most  charming  of  Senti- 
mentalists, and  withal  the  most  implacable  of 
moralists.  Her  didacticism  lifts  hands  of  demure 
horror  at  any  suspected  laxness  of  opinion. 

She  worships  the  proprieties.  Whoso  offends 
against  decorum  comes  straightway  to  an  evil  end. 
Even  heroines  languishing  under  a  false  accusation 
get  small  sympathy  from  the  author.    They  should 

191 


192  The  French  Revolution 

have  been  more  cautious  in  avoiding  the  very 
appearance  of  indiscretion.  And  yet  the  Lady 
Novelist  has  a  Christian  charity  for  handsome, 
rakish  heroes  if  they  promise  reform  in  the  last 
chapter. 

Her  favourite  virtues  are  the  domestic  ones: 
filial  and  parental  affection,  wifely  submission  and 
fidelity,  patience,  good  nature,  economy,  charity 
to  the  poor,  devoutness  in  religious  observance. 
These  she  thoroughly  understands,  and  never 
tires  of  illustrating. 

If  we  must  smile  over  the  works  of  the  Lady 
Novelist,  let  it  be  with  respect,  for  these  are  the 
virtues  of  delight  without  which  no  fine  heroisms 
can  make  life  tolerable.  There  was  a  surprising 
amount  of  good  sense  imder  her  gentility.  Her 
world  had  no  real  heights  or  depths;  but  at  least 
it  was  a  sane  and  comfortable  one.  Moreover, 
not  infrequently  her  Sentimentalism  yields  to  an 
exquisite  sense  of  humour,  and  a  rare  gift  for 
satirizing  the  smaller  vices  and  foibles  of  mankind. 
All  honour  to  Lady  Novelists;  for  the  greatest 
among  them  was  no  less  a  person  than  the  in- 
imitable Jane. 

There  was  little  natural  affinity  between  the 
Lady  Novelists  and  the  Revolution.  That  move- 
ment of  revolt  was  more  concerned  to  demand 
the  rights  of  women  than  to  exalt  the  beneficent 
influence  of  "the  fair  sex."  But  there  were  some 
few  gentle  feminine  souls  who  through  their 
humanitarian  sympathies,  the  influence  of  Rous- 


And  the  English  Novel  193 

seau,  or  a  personal  association  with  the  leaders 
of  English  Revolutionism,  were  swept  into  the 
heterodox  ciirrents  of  the  time. 

Among  the  most  prominent  of  these  was  the 
pretty  actress  and  dramatist,  Elizabeth  Inchbald. 
Her  life  was  in  no  way  noteworthy.  Elizabeth 
was  the  youngest  daughter  of  John  Simpson,  a 
Suffolk  farmer.  As  a  child,  her  chief  characteristics 
were  her  beauty  and  the  love  of  admiration  that 
was  always  her  ruling  passion.  She  seems  to  have 
chosen  her  profession  early,  and  made  heroic 
efforts  to  overcome  the  impediment  in  her  speech 
that  threatened  to  unfit  her  for  it.  As  a  stage- 
struck  little  girl  of  sixteen  she  began  secret  negotia- 
tions with  a  local  theatrical  manager.  Apparently 
he  gave  her  some  encouragement,  for  "Richard 
Griffiths"  appears  in  her  diary  in  ecstatic  childish 
capitals,  with  the  inscription:  "Each  dear  letter 
of  thy  name  is  harmony."  Two  years  later  she 
ran  away  to  try  her  fortune  in  London,  where  she 
wandered  about  for  several  days  before  her  brother- 
in-law  found  her,  frightened  and  penniless,  and 
took  her  home  with  him.  While  visiting  her  sister 
she  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  middle-aged  actor 
named  Joseph  Inchbald,  whom  she  married  soon 
afterwards,  apparently  in  despair  of  being  able  to 
make  her  way  in  London  alone.  Through  his 
assistance  she  obtained  the  coveted  entree  to  the 
stage.  But  one  fancies  she  soon  perceived  the  im- 
wisdom  of  taking  a  husband  when  what  she  really 
wanted  was  a  chaperon.     After  seven  years  of  not 

13 


194  The  French  Revolution 

altogether  happy  married  life  and  many  vicissi- 
tudes as  an  actress,  Mrs.  Inchbald  was  left  a  widow 
at  the  age  of  twenty-six  and  never  ventured  into 
matrimony  again.  Like  Holcroft,  she  made  but 
an  indifferent  success  on  the  stage,  took  to  writing 
plays  and  novels  as  a  means  of  increasing  her 
income,  and  finally  gave  up  acting  altogether.  By 
1783  we  find  her  settled  in  London,  a  prominent 
figiu"e  in  literary  society. 

Elizabeth  Inchbald  had  three  merits  which  no 
one  denied :  beauty,  cleverness,  and  an  unblemished 
reputation.  Of  the  value  of  these  she  was  fully 
conscious.  There  are  rumours  of  her  throwing  a 
kettle  of  hot  water  over  one  not  sufficiently  respect- 
ftd  admirer,  and  pulling  the  hair  of  another.  In 
telling  the  story  afterwards  she  concluded:  "Oh,  if 
he  had  wo- wo- worn  a  wig,  I  had  been  ru-ruined!" 
She  received  many  offers  of  marriage,  but  none 
sufficiently  advantageous  to  tempt  her.  There 
was  a  cool,  calculating  shrewdness  under  all  her 
coquetry  and  caprice. 

Perhaps  her  finest  characteristic  was  her  perfect 
freedom  from  snobbishness,  and  her  loyalty  to  the 
humble  ways  of  her  own  home.  Her  style  of  living 
was  economical  in  the  extreme;  she  escapes  the 
charge  of  penuriousness  only  because  of  the  gener- 
ous uses  she  made  of  her  savings.  She  wore  gowns, 
Mrs.  Shelley  tells  us,  "not  worth  a  shilling,"  and 
there  was  one  occasion  when  a  carriage  bearing  a 
crest  waited  while  she  finished  scrubbing  her  attic 
room,  and  then  drove  her  to  visit  her  sister  who 


And  the  English  Novel  195 

was  a  barmaid  near  London.  Godwin  describes 
her  as  "  a  piquante  mixture  between  a  lady  and  a 
milkmaid."^ 

The  one  absorbing  passion  of  EHzabeth  Inch- 
bald's  life  seems  to  have  been  her  love  of  admira- 
tion; especially  masculine  admiration,  for  she  was 
never  a  woman's  woman.  She  was  jealous  of 
rivalry.  Once  when  she  found  herself  beside  Mrs. 
Siddons  in  the  Green  Room,  ''suddenly  looking  at 
her  magnificent  neighbor,  she  said  'No,  I  won't 
s-s-sit  by  you ;  you're  t-t-too  handsome ! ' "  ^  But  it 
was  not  often  that  she  met  with  serious  rivalry. 
It  was  said  that :  "When  Mrs.  Inchbald  came  into  a 
room  and  sat  down  in  a  chair  in  the  middle  of  it  as 
was  her  wont,  every  man  gathered  around  it,  and 
it  was  vain  for  any  other  woman  to  attempt  to 
gain  attention.  "3 

The  account  of  Mrs.  Inchbald's  relations  with 
the  other  novelists  of  our  group  is  somewhat 
amusing.  Report  said  that : ' '  Mrs.  Inchbald  was  in 
love  with  Godwin,  Godwin  with  Miss  Alderson, 
Miss  Alderson  with  Holer  oft,  and  Holcroft  with 
Mrs.  Inchbald. "  ^  Reading  between  the  lines,  with 
the  aid  of  the  diaries  and  letters  of  the  parties 
concerned,  one  suspects  that  the  truth  of  the 
matter  was  something  like  this.  Both  Godwin  and 
Holcroft  were  Mrs.  Inchbald's  intimate  friends; 

'  Paul,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  74. 
'  Taylor,  Records  of  My  Life,  vol.  i.,  pp.  347-409. 
3  Paul,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  74. 
\Brightwell,  Memorials  of  Amelia  Opie,  p.  60. 


196  The  French  Revolution 

there  is  ample  indication  that,  at  one  time,  had 
she  chosen  to  marry  an  impecunious  Hterary 
man,  she  might  have  had  either  of  them.  But 
when  AmeHa  Alderson  came  to  London,  in  1794, 
she  made  quite  an  impression  on  these  too-sus- 
ceptible disciples  of  pure  reason.  Elizabeth  Inch- 
bald  was  not  the  woman  to  give  up  an  admirer 
willingly.  She  resorted  to  crude,  tale-bearing 
methods,  which  aroused  Amelia's  resentment  and 
inspired  her  with  a  natural  and  laudable  feminine 
desire  to  spoil  Elizabeth's  monopoly.^  Fortified 
with  this  noble  motive  and  a  becoming  new  bonnet^ 
Amelia  Alderson  entered  the  lists  against  the  vete- 
ran coquette,  with  such  success  that  before  she  left 
London,  Holcroft  had  been  refused  outright  and 
the  austere  Godwin  was  cherishing  her  discarded 
slipper  as  a  tender  relic.  ^ 

Before  we  leave  this  digression  into  the  gossip  of 
a  century  ago,  there  is  a  more  serious  charge  of 
jealousy  that  must  be  brought  against  Elizabeth 
Inchbald.  It  is  said  that  she  wept  at  the  news  of 
Godwin's  marriage.  Whatever  her  real  feelings 
were,  she,  bohemian  of  bohemians,  suddenly 
developing  scruples  for  the  proprieties,  took  oc- 

'  She  writes:  "  Mrs.  I.  appears  to  me  jealous  of  G.'s  attention  to 
me,  so  she  makes  him  behave  I  prefer  H.  to  him.  ...  Is  not  this 
very  womanish?  "     Brightwell,  Memorials  of  Amelia  Opie,  p.  60. 

^  Mrs.  Brightwell  describes  the  bonnet,  in  her  Memorials.  It 
was  light  blue,  with  blue  plumes. 

3  Thackerary,  Book  of  Sibyls,  pp.  161  f. :  "Will  you  give  me  no- 
thing to  keep  for  your  sake? "  says  Godwin,  parting  from  AmeUa, 
"not  even  your  slipper?" 


And  the  English  Novel  197 

casion  to  insult  Mary  WoUstonecraft  publicly,  and 
injure  her  by  private  report. 

One  source  of  Mrs.  Inchbald's  Revolutionism  is 
obvious :  the  influence  of  her  friendship  with  God- 
win and  Holcroft.  There  is  another,  not  quite  so 
obvious.  We  have  noted  the  curious  affinity 
between  Revolutionism  and  the  various  dissenting 
bodies.  Mrs.  Inchbald  was  a  devout  Roman 
Catholic.  At  first  glance  it  seems  rather  contra- 
dictory that  the  creed  which  adheres  most  rigidly 
to  the  principle  of  authority  should  have  tended 
to  produce  a  sympathy  with  the  political  doctrines 
of  revolt.  But  Catholics  and  dissenters  suffered 
alike  under  legal  discrimination.  Fellowship  in 
oppression  produces  strange  alliances.'' 

Whatever  the  source,  Mrs.  Inchbald's  Revolu- 
tionism was  of  the  mildest.  One  of  her  plays.  Every 
One  Has  His  Fault  (1793),  was  absiu-dly  accused  of 
having  a  seditious  tendency,  by  a  periodical  called 
The  True  Briton.''  On  the  other  hand,  in  1792, 
another  play  of  hers,  The  Massacre,  dealing  severely 
with  the  atrocities  of  the  Terror,  was  seriously 
objected  to  by  Holcroft  and  Godwin.  It  was 
written  without  any  doctrinary  intention,  however, 
for  Mrs.  Inchbald  writes  to  Godwin:  "It  was  your 

'  Lest  this  seem  a  fanciful  connexion,  we  may  quote  a  passage 
from  Elwood's  Memoirs  of  Literary  Ladies  (vol.  i.,  p.  20):  "Be- 
longing as  she  did  to  the  Roman  Catholic  community — Mrs.  I. 
necessarily  advocated  liberal  opinions. " 

'  Tobler,  Elizabeth  Inchbald,  p.  39.  The  humanitarian  ten- 
dencies of  her  other  plays  we  will  discuss  in  Chapter  IX.,  Section 
2,  of  this  thesis. 


198  The  French  Revolution 

hinting  to  me  that  it  might  do  harm  which  gave 
me  the  first  idea  that  it  might  do  good  by  prevent- 
ing future  massacres."^ 

There  is  a  record  of  a  Satire  on  the  Times  (now 
lost) ,  of  which  she  writes : 

I  said  to  myself,  how  pleased  Mr.  Godwin  will  be 
at  my  making  the  King  so  avaricious,  and — how 
pleased  the  King  will  be  at  my  making  him  so  good  at 
the  conclusion.  He  will  .  .  .  generously  pardon  me  all 
that  I  have  said  about  equahty  in  the  book,  merely  for 
giving  him  a  good  character.^ 

Mrs.  Inchbald  was  the  author  of  two  novels,  both 
of  which  are  generally  credited  with  Revolutionary 
tendencies.  The  first,  A  Simple  Story,  was  begun 
in  1777,  but  was  not  published  until  1791.  This  is 
really  two  novels  thrown  together.  In  the  first 
part.  Miss  Milner,  an  orphan,  is  left  as  a  ward  to  a 
young  priest  named  Dorriforth.  The  frivolous, 
pleasure-loving  girl  leads  her  guardian  an  anxious 
life  of  it,  and  ends  by  secretly  falling  in  love  with 
him.  Dorriforth  unexpectedly  falls  heir  to  an 
earldom.  The  Pope  dispenses  him  from  his  vows 
in  order  to  keep  the  succession  in  a  Catholic 
family.  He  marries  Miss  Milner,  An  interval  of 
seventeen  years  elapses  before  the  second  part  of 
the  novel  begins.     Meanwhile,  Miss  Milner  has 

•  Paul,  William  Godwin,  vol.  i.,  p.  74.  The  publisher  liked  the 
subject  no  better  than  Godwin  did,  and  the  play  was  suppressed, 
though  printed,  before  publication. 

^  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  141. 


And  the  English  Novel  199 

proved  unfaithful  to  her  husband,  and  he  has  cast 
her  off,  together  with  his  infant  daughter.  On  the 
death  of  her  mother  the  Earl  consents  to  let  Lady 
Matilda  live  in  a  secluded  part  of  his  castle,  but 
only  on  condition  that  he  is  never  to  see  her.  The 
Earl's  nephew,  Rushbrook,  whom  he  has  made  his 
heir  in  Matilda's  place,  falls  in  love  with  her.  Of 
course  the  novel  ends  with  a  reconciliation  and  a 
wedding.  The  moral  is,  "the  pernicious  effects  of 
an  improper  education,  in  the  destiny  which 
attended  the  unthinking  Miss  Milner.  On  the 
opposite  side,  what  may  be  hoped  from  that  school 
of  prudence  through  adversity,  in  which  Matilda 
was  bred.  "^  On  the  ground  of  this  moral,  of 
which  we  hear  nothing  until  the  last  page,  A 
Simple  Story  has  been  commonly  classified  among 
the  tendenz  novels  written  to  illustrate  the  educa- 
tional theories  of  Rousseau.  As  there  is  absolutely 
no  emphasis  on  education  anywhere  else  in  the 
novel,  it  seems  more  probable  that  the  moral  was 
merely  tacked  on  in  an  attempt  to  give  unity  to 
what  is  obviously  two  separate  stories. 

A  more  genuine  interest  lies  in  the  fact  that  Miss 
Milner  is  supposed  to  represent  the  author  herself, 
and  Dorriforth,  John  Kemble  (the  actor),  who 
left  a  Catholic  seminary  to  go  on  the  stage,  and  for 
whom  Mrs.  Inchbald  is  credited  with  a  decided 
partiality. 

The  second  of  Mrs.  Inchbald's  novels.  Nature 
and  Art  (1796),  shows  more  clearly  defined  Re- 

'  A  Simple  Story,  p.  372. 


200  The  French  Revolution 

volutionary  doctrines.  The  story  is  built  on  the 
favourite  device  of  two  brothers  with  contrasting 
dispositions.  Henry,  the  younger,  helps  William 
to  an  education  and  a  start  in  the  Church.  As 
William  obtains  ecclesiastical  preferment  and 
makes  a  wealthy  marriage,  he  neglects  his  himibler 
brother,  who  is  only  a  fiddler  by  profession.  Henry 
goes  to  Africa,  taking  with  him  an  infant  son. 
After  several  years  of  Robinson  Crusoe  adventures 
among  more  or  less  noble  savages,  he  sends  young 
Henry,  then  a  boy  of  twelve,  to  England  to  be 
under  his  uncle's  care.  William  also  has  a  son  of 
about  the  same  age.  Here  begins  the  contrast 
between  the  fashionable  and  the  Rousseauistic 
education.  Young  William  has  been  trained, 
parrot-like,  by  tutors  who  have  never  taught  him 
to  think.  Young  Henry,  on  the  contrary,  sees  the 
world  through  unsophisticated  eyes  and  formu- 
lates his  own  opinions. 

He  would  call  compliments,  lies — reserve  he  would 
call  pride — stateliness,  affectation — and  for  the  words 
war  and  battle,  he  constantly  substituted  the  word 
massacre.  ^ 

He  cannot  seem  to  grasp  the  conception  that  the 
poor  are  bom  to  serve  the  rich.  Nor  can  he  per- 
ceive how  really  comfortable  the  poor  would  be 
but  for  their  laziness  and  thriftlessness.  A  lord 
speaks  of  his  charitable  gifts : 

'  Nature  and  Art,  p.  412. 


And  the  English  Novel  201 

"How  benevolent!"  exclaimed  the  Dean. 

"How  prudent!"  exclaimed  Henry. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  prudent?"  asked  Lord 
Bendham. 

"Why,  then  my  Lord, "  answered  Henry,  "I  thought 
it  was  prudent  in  you  to  give  a  little,  lest  the  poor, 
driven  to  despair,  should  take  all."^ 

The  two  boys  grow  to  manhood.  Both  fall 
in  love  with  village  girls.  William  deserts  his 
sweetheart,  Agnes,  whom  he  never  intended  to 
marry.  She  attempts  to  kill  her  child.  Henry 
saves  it,  and  gives  it  to  his  fiancee  Rebecca  to  care 
for.  Agnes  is  driven  out  of  the  village  by  the  rigid 
virtue  of  the  lady  of  the  manor.  She  wanders  to 
London,  and  there,  unable  to  find  employment, 
drifts  from  bad  to  worse.  William  meanwhile  has 
become  a  successful  lawyer,  and  finally  risen  to  the 
bench.  Agnes  is  brought  before  him  for  trial  on  a 
charge  of  counterfeiting.  He  does  not  recognize 
her. 

But  when  William  placed  the  fatal  velvet  on  his 
head  and  rose  to  pronounce  her  sentence,  she  started 
with  a  kind  of  convulsive  motion,  retreated  a  step  or 
two  back,  and  lifting  up  her  hands,  with  a  scream, 
exclaimed — 

"Oh,  not  from  YOU!" 

Serene  and  dignified  as  if  no  such  exclamation  had 
been  uttered,  William  delivered  the  fatal  speech,  end- 
ing with  "  Dead,  dead,  dead.  " 

She  fainted  as  he  closed  the  period,  and  was  carried 

•  Nature  and  Art,  p.  433. 


202  The  French  Revolution 

back  to  prison  in  a  swoon;  while  he  adjourned  court 
to  go  to  dinner.^ 

Agnes  leaves  a  letter  which  makes  William's 
subsequent  life  a  prey  to  remorse.  Henry,  less 
successful  but  more  happy,  rescues  his  father  from 
Africa,  marries  his  faithful  Rebecca,  and  settles 
down  as  a  contented  farmer. 

Professor  Cross  classes  this  novel  with  Caleb 
Williams  as  ' '  the  best  examples  of  the  distinctively 
'  victim-of-society '  story. ' '  ^  The  presence  of  other 
characteristic  features  of  Revolutionary  fiction  is 
obvious.  Young  Henry  is  the  unsophisticated 
critic  of  civilization  of  the  type  of  Hermsprong. ' 
The  satire  on  lawyers  and  clergy  recalls  Hugh 
Trevor.  The  efforts  of  Agnes  to  find  employment 
resemble  those  of  Jemima,  in  Maria  or  the  Wrongs 
of  Women. '» 

On  the  whole,  however,  we  must  conclude  that 
Mrs.  Inchbald  is  a  Revolutionist  only  in  her 
humanitarian  sympathies  and  her  dislike  of  certain 
specific  oppressions  and  intolerances.  She  has 
more  in  common  with  Robert  Bage  than  with  men 
of  the  type  of  Godwin  and  Holcroft  who  are 
Revolutionists  from  theory  and  conviction  as  well 
as  from  sympathy. 

■  Nature  and  Art,  p.  527.  Mrs.  Inchbald's  sense  of  the  drama- 
tic value  of  this  situation  has  recently  been  justified  by  the 
success  of  a  play  built  on  the  same  idea.     {Madam  X.) 

'  Cross,  The  English  Novel,  p.  91. 

3  Cf.  note  on  Hermsprong,  in  Chapter  VI.,  Section  i,  of  this 
thesis. 

4  Cf.  Chapter  VIII.,  Section  2,  of  this  discussion. 


And  the  English  Novel  203 

SECTION  2 :  MRS.  AMELIA  ALDERSON  OPIE 

Perhaps  the  pleasantest  of  our  Lady  Novelists, 
in  personaHty  and  in  Hterary  style,  is  Mrs.  Opie 
( 1 769-1 853).  Throughout  her  long  life  she  was 
always  in  sympathy  with  the  progressive  move- 
ments of  the  time.  The  most  interesting  people 
of  two  generations  figure  in  the  pages  of  her 
biography. 

Amelia  Alderson  was  the  only  child  of  a  Norwich 
physician,  a  Unitarian,  of  radical  political  prin- 
ciples. Her  parents  were  deeply  interested  in 
various  humanitarian  movements.  It  is  to  these 
early  influences  that  Mrs.  Opie  ascribed  her  life- 
long zeal  for  the  cause  of  negro  emancipation. 

In  1794  she  went  to  London  for  a  visit,  and 
there  became  acquainted  with  all  the  literary 
Radicals  of  the  Joseph  Johnson  circle.  It  was  on 
this  visit  that  she  aroused  the  jealousy  of  Mrs. 
Inchbald  by  her  flirtations  with  the  Pure  Reason 
philosophers,  of  which  the  letters  of  the  two  ladies 
have  left  us  an  amusing  account.  Miss  Alderson 
attended  the  trials  for  High  Treason  of  Hardy, 
Tooke,  and  Holcroft.  She  wrote  home  indignant 
accounts  of  ministerial  oppression :  ' '  What  a  pass 
are  things  come  to  when  even  dissenters  lick  the 
hand  that  oppressed  them!  Hang  these  politics! 
How  they  haunt  me!  Would  it  not  be  better, 
think  you,  to  hang  the  framers  of  them?  " '  Later, 
she  writes  to  a  friend : 

'  Brightwell,  Amelia  Opie,  vol.  i.,  p.  47. 


204  The  French  Revolution 

I  had  reason  to  believe  that  if  the  "felons"  about 
to  be  tried  were  not  "acquitted  felons "  certain  friends 
of  mine  would  have  emigrated  to  America,  and  my 
beloved  father  would  have  been  induced  to  accom- 
pany them.  ^ 

On  a  second  visit  to  London,  Miss  Alderson  met  the 
portrait  painter  John  Opie,  to  whom  she  was 
married  in  1798. 

In  1805  she  visited  France,  where  she  went  with 
Ann  Plump tre  to  visit  Helen  Maria  Williams.^ 
She  also  met  Fox  and  Kosciuszko,  the  Polish  pa- 
triot, and  saw  Buonaparte,  then  First  Consul.  In 
1807  the  death  of  Mr.  Opie  ended  her  entirely 
happy  married  life,  and  the  young  widow  returned 
to  her  father's  home  in  Norwich.  The  rest  of  her 
life  was  uneventful.  She  made  the  acquaintance 
of  Wordsworth,  Southey,  Sidney  Smith,  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  Mme.  de  Stael,  and  Mme.  de  Genlis,  all  of 
whom  thought  well  of  her  literary  work.  But  her 
closest  friends  were  the  Gumeys,  especially  Eliza- 
beth Gumey  Fry,  Howard's  successor  in  prison 
reform.  It  was  undoubtedly  through  the  influence 
of  Elizabeth  Fry  that  Mrs.  Opie  was  led  in  1825 
to  become  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends. 

We  may  say  a  word  here  on  the  subject  of  Mrs. 
Opie's  previous  sectarian  affiliations.  In  18 14  she 
left  the  Unitarians  with  whom  her  earliest  connex- 


'  Brightwell,  Amelia  Opie,  vol.  i.,  pp.  48  f. 
*  Two  literary  ladies  of  well-known  Revolutionary  sentiments. 
For  Ann  Plumptre,  cf.  following  Section. 


And  the  English  Novel  205 

ions  had  naturally  been  formed.  Her  biographer 
says: 

Many  of  her  relations  on  her  mother's  side  had  been 
united  for  generations  past  to  the  Wesleyan  Method- 
ists, which  consideration  naturally  disposed  her  to 
a  union  with  that  sect  of  worshippers.* 

Her  final  decision  in  favour  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  was  a  very  natural  one  for  a  Revolutionist. 
Since  the  time  of  William  Penn  that  sect  had  been 
noted  for  their  sympathy  with  the  most  liberal 
political  opinions.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
Algernon  Sydney  helped  draft  the  constitution  of 
Pennsylvania.  Many  of  the  finest  doctrines  of  the 
Revolutionists  were  identical  with  those  of  the 
Friends.  Bage  has  been  generally  credited  with 
being  a  member  of  that  Society,  and  Holcroft  was 
referred  to  as  "a  sort  of  natural  Quaker."^ 

Mrs.  Opie  must  have  made  a  somewhat  amus- 
ing Friend,  one  fancies.  The  fondness  for  pretty 
clothes  that  was  one  of  her  most  endearingly 
human  characteristics  was  not  laid  aside  when  she 
put  on  the  "plain"  dress.  She  wore  the  gown  of 
grey,  but  it  was  of  pale  grey  satin,  with  a  modish 
little  train,  and  we  hear  of  "the  crisp  fichu  crossed 
over  the  breast,  which  set  off  to  advantage  the 
charming   little   plump   figure   with   its   rounded 

'  Brightwell,  Amelia  Opie,  p.  193. 

^  Cf.  Chapter  II.,  Chapter  IV.,  and  Chapter  V.,  Section  i,  note 
p.  172,  for  previous  discussion  of  Friends  in  this  thesis. 


2o6  The  French  Revolution 

lines. ' '  ^  Her  calling  cards  bore  her  name  '  *  Amelia 
Opie, "  in  the  "plain"  style,  scrupulously  without 
prefix :  but  there  was  an  embossed  wreath  of  pink 
roses  about  the  name!  But  if  the  vanities  did 
rather  cling  to  her  after  she  had  renounced  the 
world,  there  was  one  sacrifice  which  she  made  in  all 
seriousness.  She  gave  up  writing  fiction,  and 
even  recalled  a  novel  which  was  in  the  hands  of 
her  publisher,  at  no  small  loss  and  inconvenience 
to  herself.  A  book  of  anecdotes,  under  the  title 
Illustrations  of  Lying,  was  her  nearest  approach 
to  fiction  after  she  joined  the  Friends. 

In  1830  Mrs.  Opie  revisited  Paris.  She  records 
her  emotion  in  seeing  again  the  scene  of  her  youth- 
ful enthusiasms  in  some  verses,  very  popular  in  her 
own  time,  beginning:  "At  sight  of  thee,  O  Tricolor, 
I  seem  to  see  youth's  hour  return."  She  met 
Lafayette,  whom  she  calls,  "The  hero  of  my  child- 
hood, the  idol  of  my  youth! "^ 

One  incident  of  this  visit  to  Paris  is  worth  re- 
cording.    Mrs.  Opie  writes  to  a  friend : 

The  Paris  intellectual  world  runs  mad  just  now 
after  a  new  sect,  (a  new  religion  they  call  it),  the  Saint 
Simoniennes :  the  founder  is  a  St.  Simon,  of  the  Due  de 
St.  Simon's  family.  His  disciples  preach  up  equality 
of  property.  The  thing  is,  I  suspect,  more  political 
than  anything  else  in  its  object;  but  on  a  first  day 
there  is  a  religious  preaching,  and  the  room  overflows ; 
so  it  does  on  a  week  day  evening  when  there  are  only 

'  Thackeray,  Book  of  Sibyls,  p.  189. 
'  Brightwell,  Amelia  Opie,  p.  234. 


And  the  English  Novel  207 

lectures.  ...  I  have  vainly  tried  to  read  their  book 
of  doctrine.  I  could  not  get  on  with  it.  But  as  they 
agree  with  the  Friends  in  two  points,  I  am  sometimes 
tempted  to  go  one  evening.    Nous  verrons.  ^ 

This  comment  of  one  of  the  last  survivors  of  the 
older  group  of  Revolutionists  is  not  without  a 
certain  interest.  St.  Simon  was  one  of  the  earliest 
of  those  Utopian  socialists  who  were  to  some  extent 
the  forerunners  of  the  present  Marxian  Socialism. 
It  is  ciirious  that  Mrs.  Opie  should  be  interested  in 
the  St.  Simoniennes  only  as  a  Friend.  Surely  in 
the  long  years  of  the  Reaction  she  must  have 
very  completely  forgotten  the  spirit  of  Holcroft, 
of  Godwin,  and  the  rest  of  the  London  circle  who 
were  her  friends  in  the  early  nineties,  or  she  would 
have  recognized  the  old  social  idealism  under  the 
new  form.  She  seems  to  have  had  no  premonition 
that  this  primarily  economic,  collectivistic  Revolu- 
tionism might  be  in  some  sense  the  successor  to 
the  older,  primarily  political,  individualistic  Re- 
volutionism of  her  youth.  ^ 

Mrs.  Opie  was  the  author  of  ten  works  of  fiction, 
five  of  which  were  novels,  the  rest  collections  of 
short  stories.  All  contain  some  expression  of  her 
liberal  political  belief  (one  can  hardly  call  anything 
so  gentle  Revolutionism).     As  it  is  obviously  not 

■  Brightwell,  Amelia  Opie,  p.  263. 

^  It  will  be  remembered  that  Lucas  classifies  the  Illuminati  as 
one  of  the  sects  of  Revolutionary  philosophers.  (Chapter  IV.) 
St.  Simon  was,  according  to  George  Sand,  high  in  the  councils  of 
t;uc  (^^ohteenth-century  secret  society  of  that  name. 


2o8  The  French  Revolution 

worth  our  while  to  discuss  all  of  these  in  detail, 
we  may  confine  ourselves  to  the  two  in  which 
Revolutionism  plays  the  most  important  role,  and 
consider  these  as  typical  of  the  rest. 

Adelina  Mowbray,  or  Mother  and  Daughter  (1804) 
borrows  its  general  idea  from  the  life  of  Mary 
WoUstonecraft, '  but  the  plot  as  a  whole  is  entirely 
fictitious.  Adelina  Mowbray  is  the  only  daughter 
of  a  wealthy  widow,  who  poses  as  being  very  in- 
tellectual. Mrs.  Mowbray  is  especially  fond  of  the 
new  and  radical  philosophies.  Adelina,  however, 
accepts  in  all  earnestness  the  theories  which  are 
merely  pose  with  her  mother.  Mother  and 
daughter  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  young 
philosopher,  Glenmurray,  whose  book  against 
marriage  has  greatly  influenced  Adelina.  Glen- 
murray, in  love  with  Adelina,  wishes  to  renounce 
his  theories  and  marry  her;  but  she,  enthusiastic 
and  ready  for  martyrdom,  insists  that  they  shall 
scorn  prejudice  and  dispense  with  the  marriage 
ceremony.  Her  mother,  horrified,  disowns  her, 
saying : 

Little  did  I  think  you  were  so  romantic,  as  to  see  no 
difference  between  amusing  one's  imagination  with  new 
theories  and  new  systems,  and  acting  upon  them  in 
defiance  of  common  custom  and  the  received  usages  of 
society.  .  .  .  The  poetical  philosophy  which  I  have  so 
much  delighted  to  study,  has  served  me  to  ornament 
my  conversation,  and  make  persons  less  enlightened 
than  myself  wonder  at  the  superior  boldness  of  my 

'  Cf.  Chapter  VIII.,  Section  2,  of  this  thesis. 


And  the  English  Novel  209 

fancy  and  the  acuteness  of  my  reasoning  powers;  but 
I  should  as  soon  have  thought  of  making  this  little 
gold  chain  around  my  neck  fasten  the  hall  door,  as  act 
upon  the  precepts  laid  down  in  those  delightful  books.  ^ 

Not  a  bad  satire,  this,  on  a  certain  type  of  lady 
Revolutionist.  Mrs.  Opie  is  quite  capable  of 
appreciating  intellectual  honesty. 

For  a  number  of  years  Adelina  is  happy  with 
Glenmurray,  in  spite  of  the  occasional  insults  and 
inconveniences  to  which  her  position  subjects  her. 
But  Glenmurray,  always  an  invalid,  goes  into 
consumption.  As  he  is  dying  he  repents  of  his 
destructive  philosophy.  "As  those  opinions  mili- 
tated against  the  experience  and  custom  of  ages, 
ought  I  not  to  have  paused  before  I  published,  and 
kept  them  back  until  they  received  the  sanction 
of  my  maturer  judgment?"^  He  makes  Adelina 
promise  that  after  his  death  she  will  marry  his 
cousin  Berrendale,  who  will  understand  and  pro- 
tect her  and  her  child.  But  in  a  few  years  Berren- 
dale tires  of  her  and  deserts  her.  Left  without 
resoiirces,  she  appeals  to  her  mother,  but  receives 
no  answer.  After  a  few  years  of  struggle  against 
illness  and  poverty,  she  returns  to  her  old  home. 
Her  mother,  she  finds,  had  long  ago  forgiven  her, 
but  had  been  prevented  from  receiving  her  letters. 
Adelina  dies,  leaving  her  little  daughter  to  her 
mother's  care,  with  the  pathetic  injunction : 

^  Works  of  Mrs.  Opie,  vol.  i.,  p.  127. 
'  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  177. 

14 


210  The  French  Revolution 

Oh !  Teach  my  Editha  to  be  humble,  teach  her  to 
be  slow  to  call  the  wisdom  of  ages  contemptible  pre- 
judices; teach  her  no  opinions  that  can  destroy  her 
sympathies  with  general  society,  and  make  her  an  alien 
to  the  hearts  of  those  among  whom  she  lives.  ^ 

As  a  bit  of  gentle  good  sense  opposed  to  Pure 
Reason  absurdities,  Adelina  Mowbray  is  certainly 
beyond  criticism.  As  an  interpretation  of  Mary 
WoUstonecraft,  if  such  were  intended,  it  is  not 
unjust,  but  merely  absurdly  inadequate.  Amelia 
Opie  was  one  of  those  simple,  kindly  souls  to  whom 
the  real  power  and  originality  of  a  mind  like  that  of 
Mary  WoUstonecraft  must  remain  forever  a  closed 
book.  Mrs.  Opie  did  not  misjudge  her  friend ;  she 
merely  did  not  see  quite  all  that  she  amoimted  to. 
What  was  to  Mary  only  one  side  of  life,  and  that 
not  the  most  important,  seems  to  Mrs.  Opie  to 
blot  out  all  the  rest.  If  Godwin  sat  for  Glen- 
murray,  the  portrait  is  a  flattering  one. 

Valentine's  Eve  (1816)  is  the  only  other  one  of 
Mrs.  Opie's  in  which  Revolutionism  is  more  than 
incidental.  General  Shirley  has  disowned  his  son 
for  marrying  beneath  him.  When  the  son  is 
killed  in  battle,  the  General  relents  and  adopts 
his  granddaughter,  Catherine  Shirley,  who  has 
grown  to  womanhood  without  his  seeing  her. 
Catherine  is  visited  in  her  new  home  by  her  foster- 
sister,  Lucy  Merle.  Mrs.  Opie  uses  the  girls  to 
illustrate  two  somewhat  different  ideals.    Cather- 

'  Mrs.  Opie's  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  223. 


And  the  English  Novel  211 

ine  is  a  girl  of  enthusiastic  religious  principles. 
Lucy  represents  the  Revolutionary  philosophy. 
Her  father  was  "one  of  the  many  republicans,  or 
democrats,  some  twenty  years  ago,  whom  proflig- 
acy and  poverty  led  to  rally  round  that  respect- 
able standard,  which  was  originally  erected  from 
the  purest  love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty."^ 
But  Lucy  herself  represents  a  finer  type;  she  had 
"imbibed  the  purest  flame  of  liberty  and  the 
purest  love  of  republicanism. "  The  conclusion  at 
which  the  author  is  aiming  is  the  superiority  of 
the  religious  basis  of  morals  and  manners  to  the 
philosophical  basis  even  at  its  best.  A  speech  of 
Catherine's  may  be  taken  as  stating  the  point  of 
the  whole  novel : 

Her  standards  and  mine  are  different;  with  her, 
everything  is  republican  virtue,  amongst  which  virtues 
she  reckons  freedom  of  speech,  vehemence  to  defend 
opinions  which  she  thinks  right  at  all  risks  and  before 
all  persons.  .  .  .  But  my  standard  is  Christianity, 
which  teaches  forbearance  on  all  occasions  as  one  of  the 
first  of  duties.  .  .  .  Miss  Merle  has  real  republican 
virtues.  She  is  temperate,  frugal,  industrious,  and  self- 
denying.  But  then  these  are  Christian  virtues  also ;  and 
though  I  admire  moral  virtues  as  much  as  she  can  do, 
I  think  them  durable  and  precious  only  as  they  are 
derived  from  religious  belief  and  the  consequence  of  it. 
Without  that,  all  morals  appear  built  upon  a  sandy 
foundation,  and  are  liable  to  be  swept  away  by  the 
flood  of  strong  temptation.    Here  Lucy  and  I  differ ; — 

'  Mrs.  Opie's  Works,  vol.  ii.,  p.  152. 


212  The  French  Revolution 

she  thinks  morality  can  stand  alone,  without  the  aid 
of  religion;  nay,  she  even  fancies  republican  firmness 
sufficient  to  enable  us  to  bear  affliction.  But  if  she  is 
ever  seriously  afflicted,  I  am  sure  she  will  find  her 
error.  ^ 

From  all  of  which  it  is  clear  that  Mrs.  Opie  insists 
on  judging  a  great  movement  of  social  idealism  by 
somewhat  limited  and  personal  standards.  One 
might  even  argue  that  her  Christianity  is  as  limited 
as  her  Revolutionism. 

The  rest  of  the  novel  is  perfectly  commonplace. 
Catherine  marries  an  Earl,  and  affords  an  edifying 
picture  of  an  insistently  religious  woman  in  society, 
which  might  almost  be  regarded  as  a  variation 
of  the  "Child  of  Nature"  device  for  criticizing  the 
morals  and  manners  of  the  world  in  general.  She 
quotes  Scripture  in  season  and  out,  revels  in  a 
martyrdom  of  singularity,  and  lives  up  to  the 
standards  of  the  Simday  School  Library — a  con- 
genial atmosphere  in  which,  I  am  told,  the  works 
of  Mrs.  Opie  still  survive. 

Such  was  Mrs.  Opie's  Revolutionism.  Her  early 
life  was  passed  in  an  atmosphere  of  radicalism  and 
dissent.  Hence  she  was,  in  a  gentle  feminine 
fashion,  a  Republican.  But  she  did  not  begin  to 
write  novels  until  the  age  of  Reaction  had  set  in. 
By  that  time  whatever  Revolutionary  ardour  she 
may  have  had  has  faded  to  an  affectionate  and 
respectful  memory.    Her  real  interest  is  in  a  purely 

■  Mrs.  Opie's  Works,  vol.  ii.,  pp.  i86,  187. 


And  the  English  Novel  213 

personal  form  of  religion,  and  the  domestic  virtues, 
like  the  typical  Lady  Novelist  she  is. 

SECTION  3:    MRS.    CHARLOTTE    SMITH 

Another  literary  lady  who  has  left  in  her  novels 
some  expression  of  her  liberal  political  convictions 
is  Mrs.  Charlotte  Turner  Smith  (i 749-1 806).  As 
eldest  daughter  of  a  landed  gentleman  of  Sussex, 
she  received  an  elaborate  and  expensive  education 
devoted  entirely  to  accomplishments.  At  the 
Kensington  Seminary  where  she  was  sent  for  a 
final  polish,  a  schoolmate  records: 

She  was  considered  romantic  by  her  young  com- 
panions; she  had  read  more  than  any  one  else  in  the 
school,  was  continually  composing  verse,  and  was 
thought  too  great  a  genius  for  study.  ^ 

At  the  age  of  fifteen  she  was  persuaded  by  her 
family  into  a  marriage  which  did  not  prove  alto- 
gether happy.  Her  young  husband  seems  to  have 
been  extravagant,  deficient  in  good  sense,  and  in 
continual  financial  difficulties.  Under  the  pressure 
of  necessity  Charlotte  developed  decided  business 
ability.  Her  stern  old  father-in-law  declared  "she 
could  do  more  from  his  directions  in  one  hour  than 
any  of  his  clerks  in  a  day. " 

Besides  being  the  business  head  of  the  house, 
home-maker,  and  mother  of  twelve  children,  Char- 
lotte added  to  the  family  income  by  writing.  She 
finally  obtained  a  legal  separation  from  her  worth- 

'  Brightwell,  Literary  Ladies,  vol.  i.,  p.  285. 


214  The  French  Revolution 

less  husband  and  supported  herself  almost  entirely 
by  her  pen.  Her  published  works  amounted  to 
nearly  fifty  volumes. 

There  are  certain  circumstances  in  her  life  which 
may  have  influenced  her  political  opinions:  a 
residence  of  some  years  in  France,  made  necessary 
by  her  husband's  financial  difficulties,  and  the 
marriage  of  one  of  her  daughters  to  a  French 
emigre.  Her  connexion  with  the  little  circle  of 
Radicals  in  London  probably  did  not  extend 
beyond  a  mere  acquaintance  with  one  or  two  of 
them. 

The  first  and  fullest  expression  of  Charlotte 
Smith's  Revolutionary  politics  was  her  novel 
Desmond  (1792).  The  preface  gives  interesting 
evidence  as  to  the  source  of  Mrs.  Smith's  Revolu- 
tionism. 

As  to  the  political  passages  dispersed  through  the 
work,  they  are,  for  the  most  part,  drawn  from  con- 
versations to  which  I  have  been  a  witness,  in  England 
and  France,  during  the  last  twelve  months.  In  carry- 
ing on  my  story  in  those  countries,  and  at  a  period 
when  their  political  situation  (but  particularly  that  of 
the  latter)  is  the  general  topic  of  discourse  in  both;  I 
have  given  to  my  imaginary  characters  the  arguments 
I  have  heard  on  both  sides;  and  if  those  in  favor  of 
one  party  have  evidently  the  advantage,  it  is  not 
owing  to  my  partial  representation,  but  to  the  pre- 
dominant power  of  truth  and  reason,  which  can 
neither  be  altered  nor  concealed.^ 

'  Desmond,  vol.  i.,  p.  ii. 


And  the  English  Novel  215 

The  plot  is  simpler  than  is  usual  in  novels  in 
letter  form.  Desmond,  a  young  man  of  virtue 
and  sensibility,  has  a  Werther-like  platonic  passion 
for  an  unhappily  married  lady,  Mrs.  Geraldine 
Vemey.  He  goes  to  France  to  endeavour  to  forget 
her,  attracted  thither  by  his  interest  in  the  Revolu- 
tion. He  visits  a  young  French  nobleman  of  repub- 
lican sympathies.  Count  Montfleini,  and  his  uncle, 
of  intense  aristocratic  prejudices,  Count  d'Haute- 
ville.  His  observations  on  the  actual  conditions 
of  the  country,  as  contrasted  with  the  lurid  re- 
ports that  reach  England,  are  detailed  in  his  letters 
to  his  friends. 

Meanwhile,  Mrs.  Vemey's  husband  has  ruined 
himself  at  cards  and  gone  to  France,  leaving  her 
unprotected  with  three  children  to  care  for.  Des- 
mond, returning  to  England,  manages  to  help  her 
secretly.  Her  husband  sends  for  her  to  meet  him 
in  France,  and  she  dutifully  obeys.  She  falls  into 
the  hands  of  one  of  the  wild  bands  of  royalist 
marauders.  Desmond  rescues  her.  She  learns  that 
her  husband  was  among  these  bandits,  but  had 
been  mortally  wounded  some  time  before.  She  and 
Desmond  find  him  and  care  for  him.  He  dies, 
leaving  Desmond  the  guardian  of  his  children. 
Desmond,  of  course,  marries  his  Geraldine,  and  his 
friend  Montfleuri  marries  her  younger  sister  Fanny. 

The  letters  devoted  to  the  actual  narrative  would 
scarcely  fill  more  than  one  of  the  three  volumes. 
The  rest  is  devoted  to  conversations  and  arguments 
about  the  Revolution.    One  feels  that  the  author 


2i6  The  French  Revolution 

is  really  giving  a  pretty  fair  representation  of  the 
political  conversations  afloat  in  English  society  at 
the  time.  It  all  has  a  very  natural  sound.  The 
young  enthusiast  Desmond,  sure  that  the  Re- 
volution is  really  ushering  in  a  new  era,  that  all 
discouraging  reports  from  Prance  are  merely  mis- 
representations by  parties  interested  in  preserving 
despotism;  his  friend  Bethel,  older  and  less  san- 
guine, republican  in  his  sympathies  but  not  so  sure 
of  the  successful  outcome  of  the  present  struggle; 
and  the  young  French  nobleman,  Montfleuri,  with 
his  accurate  knowledge  of  the  old  regime  to 
balance  the  mistakes  of  the  new:  these  represent 
the  radical  side.  Opposing  them,  there  are  all 
shades  of  opinion:  General  Wallingford,  irascible, 
vituperative,  who  regards  the  French  as  the 
natural  enemies  of  England;  Lord  Newminster,  a 
young  fop,  who  "wishes  the  King  and  Lords  may 
smash  them  all — and  be  cursed  to  them";  a 
Bishop  who  defends  order,  the  Establishment,  and 
Church  properties;  a  London  merchant,  who 
"wishes  the  whole  race  were  extirpated,  and  we 
were  in  possession  of  their  country,  as  in  justice  it  is 
certain  we  ought  to  be,  "^  and  a  host  of  others. 
There  is  a  narrative  of  a  (supposedly  typical) 
French  farmer  whose  life  is  made  intolerable  by 
the  game  laws  and  special  privileges  of  his  overlord. 
Montfleuri  gives  an  interesting  analysis  of  the 
historical  causes  leading  up  to  the  Revolution,  and 
of  its  philosophies,  concluding: 
'  Desmond,  vol.  i.,  p.  86. 


And  the  English  Novel  217 

Montesquieu  had  done  as  much  as  a  writer,  under 
a  despot,  dared  to  do,  towards  developing  the  spirit  of 
the  laws,  and  the  true  principles  of  government;  and, 
though  the  multitude  heeded  not,  or  understood  not 
his  abstract  reasoning,  he  taught  those  to  think,  who 
gradually  disseminated  his  opinions.  Voltaire  at- 
tacked despotism  in  all  its  holds,  with  the  powers  of 
resistless  wit.  .  .  .  Rousseau  with  matchless  elo- 
quence: .  .  .  and,  as  these  were  authors  who,  to  the 
force  of  reason,  added  the  charms  of  fancy,  they 
were  universally  read,  and  their  sentiments  were 
adopted  by  all  classes  of  men. 

The  political  maxims  and  economical  systems  of 
Turgot,  and  the  application  of  these  principles  by 
Mirabeau,  excited  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  the  result  of 
which  could  not  fail  of  being  favourable  to  the  liber- 
ties of  mankind;  and  such  was  the  disposition  of  the 
people  of  France,  when  the  ambitious  policy  of  our 
ministry  sent  our  soldiers  into  America  to  support  the 
English  colonists  in  their  resistance  to  the  parent 
state.  ^ 

Desmond  has  long  discussions  with  various 
opponents  of  Revolutionism,  in  which  he  answers 
the  characteristic  conservative  arguments.  The 
ultra  aristocratic  Count  d'Hauteville  advances  an 
argument  which  (the  author  says  in  a  footnote) 
"has  been  called  imanswerable. "  "You  consider 
your  footman  on  an  equality  with  yourself, — Why 
then  is  he  your  footman?"  Desmond  answers 
very  concisely  that  abolishing  an  aristocracy  of 
birth  does  not  necessarily  mean  introducing  social 

Desmond,  vol.  i.,  pp.  150-51. 


2i8  The  French  Revolution 

or  economic  equality.  This  is  a  crucial  point  in 
Revolutionism.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  Charlotte 
Smith's  answer  is  the  answer  of  early  common- 
sense  Revolutionism,  not  of  later  philosophic  and 
religious  Revolutionism.  Bage  might  have  an- 
swered so ;  Holcroft  and  Shelley  never. 

The  general  conclusions  of  the  book  are  some- 
thing like  the  following:  "A  revolution  in  the 
government  of  France  was  absolutely  necessary; 
and,  that  it  has  been  accomplished  at  less  expense 
of  blood,  than  any  other  event. " '  English  opposi- 
tion to  the  French  Revolution  is  due  to  three 
principal  causes:  (i)  The  ancient  hatred  to 
France,  as  England's  natural  enemy;  (2)  mis- 
understandings, party  prejudice,  and  "the  apathy 
of  people  who,  at  ease  themselves,  indolently 
acquiesce  in  evils  that  do  not  affect  them";  and 
finally,  (3)  the  vast  numbers  of  people  "whose 
interest,  which  is  what  wholly  decides  their  opin- 
ions, is  diametrically  opposite  to  all  reform,  and  of 
course,  to  the  reception  of  those  truths  which  may 
promote  it."^  Desmond  and  his  friends  agree  in 
criticizing  the  English  government.  The  counts 
against  it  are  three:  (i)  Inequality  of  representa- 
tion and  corrupt  elections;  (2)  penal  laws,  with 
capital  punishment  for  slight  offences,  and  un- 
speakable prison  conditions;  (3)  slow,  uncertain 
and  inefficient  legal  procedure,  especially  in  the 

'  Desmond,  vol.  ii.,  p.  52.    This  illustrates  the  general  opinion 
in  1792. 

^  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  54. 


And  the  English  Novel  219 

Courts  of  Equity  and  Chancery.  But  the  im- 
mediate estabHshment  of  a  repubHc  in  England 
is  considered  neither  necessary  nor  desirable. 
Conditions  are  radically  different  from  those  in 
France. 

Charlotte  Smith's  next  novel,  The  Old  Manor 
House  (1793),  contains  no  direct  references  to  the 
French  Revolution,  and  few  distinctively  doc- 
trinary  passages.  Nevertheless,  it  has  a  certain 
interest  for  us.  The  first  part  is  a  satire  on  pride 
of  birth.  Mrs.  Rayland,  an  eccentric  old  lady  of 
noble  family  and  great  wealth,  disowns  her  humble 
cousin.  She  is  induced,  however,  to  allow  his 
young  son  Orlando  to  visit  her,  and  gradually 
becomes  attached  to  the  boy.  The  plot  con- 
cerns itself  chiefly  with  the  manoeuvrings  of  Mrs. 
Rayland  to  keep  Orlando  in  her  power  without 
definitely  promising  to  make  him  her  heir,  and 
with  Orlando's  love  for  the  housekeeper's  gentle 
niece.  Orlando  obtains  an  ensign's  commission, 
and  is  sent  to  the  war  in  America.  Here  follow 
scathing  satires  on  governmental  bad  policy, 
corrupt  motives,  and  general  mismanagement  in 
the  war  with  the  colonies.  Of  course,  on  Orlando's 
retiim  he  finds  that  Mrs.  Rayland  has  died  and 
left  a  will  in  his  favour  after  all. 

The  last  of  Mrs.  Smith's  novels  which  has  any 
significance  for  us  is  The  Young  Philosopher, 
Nature  his  Law  and  God  his  Guide  (1798).  At  this 
stage  of  events  Charlotte  Smith's  Revolutionism 
has  lost  some  of  its  optimism  and  complacent 


220  The  French  Revolution 

belief  in  the  efficacy  of  reforms.  There  is  a  new 
note  of  bitterness  in  her  satire  of  existing  condi- 
tions. At  the  same  time,  she  is  much  more  in- 
terested in  the  philosophic  aspect  of  Revolutionism 
than  she  was  at  the  beginning.  Evidently  she 
feels  the  need  of  an  intellectual  justification  for  her 
liberal  principles,  now  that  practical  justification 
in  the  form  of  a  successful  republican  government 
in  France  has  failed. 

The  preface  says  with  some  bitterness  that  the 
author  is  well  qualified  to  describe  the  "evils 
arising  from  oppression,  fraud,  and  chicanery." 
She  refutes  a  recent  charge  of  plagiarism  from 
The  Wrongs  of  Woman, "^  a  work  "by  an  author 
whose  talents  I  greatly  honor  and  whose  un- 
timely death  I  deeply  regret."^  In  closing  she 
disclaims  any  personal  responsibility  for  the  senti- 
ments of  her  characters  and  declares  that  her  only 
moral  is  "to  show  the  ill  consequences  of  detrac- 
tion and  the  sad  effects  of  parental  resentment." 
The  year  1798  was  not  so  propitious  as  the  year 
1792  had  been  for  the  frank  avowal  of  radical 
political  views. 

The  plot  centres  in  the  misfortunes  of  a  young 
man  of  Rousseauistic  education  and  principles, 
in  a  state  of  society  where  he  is  regarded  as  being, 
at  best,  harmlessly  insane.     He  wishes  to  settle 

'  Probably  refers  to  certain  similarities  ia  plot  between  Des- 
mond and  The  Wrongs  of  Woman,  by  Mary  WoUstonecraft.  For 
a  summary  of  the  latter  see  Chapter  VII.,  Section  2,  of  this  thesis. 

'  The  Young  Philosopher,  vol.  i.,  p.  iii. 


And  the  English  Novel  221 

down  as  a  contented  farmer  but  finds  that  the 
abuses  of  the  world  fairly  force  themselves  upon 
him  in  his  retreat,  and  demand  that  he  do  his  best 
to  spread  the  truths  which  are  their  only  remedy. 
From  the  time  he  is  a  boy  at  Eton  he  is  forced  into 
a  Shelley-like  rebellion  against  cruelty  and  oppres- 
sion. 

From  detestation  against  individuals,  such  as 
justices  and  overseers,  he  began  to  reflect  on  the  laws 
that  put  it  thus  in  their  power  to  drive  the  poor  forth 
to  nakedness  and  famine.  .  .  .  And  he  was  led  to  in- 
quire if  the  complicated  misery  he  every  day  saw  could 
be  the  fruits  of  the  very  best  laws  that  could  be  formed 
in  a  state  of  society  said  to  be  the  most  perfect  among 
what  are  called  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world.'  . 

He  began  to  read  the  writings  of  the  French 
philosophers,  "who  have  been  supposed  to  have 
contributed  to  the  production  of  the  great  and 
awful  changes  that  were  approaching."^  Finally, 
prejudice  and  persecution,  together  with  his  own 
too  keen  perception  of  the  miseries  under  the  siu"- 
face  of  society,  make  England  intolerable  to  the 
young  philosopher;  he  departs  for  the  wilds  of 
America. 

These  three  novels  represent  distinct  stages  in 
English  Revolutionism.  Desmond  was  written 
when,  in  spite  of  decided  opposition  in  high  places, 
the  tide  of  popular  opinion  had  not  yet  fully 

'  The  Young  Philosopher,  vol.  i.,  p.  54. 
*  IMd.,  vol.  i.,  p.  60. 


222  The  French  Revolution 

turned  against  France.  Revolutionary  sympa- 
thizers, of  whom  there  were  many,  hoped  that  the 
worst  was  passed  and  that  the  progress  of  reform 
in  England  might  suffer  no  check  from  the  example 
of  a  neighbouring  conflict.  In  1793  the  Reaction 
set  in  in  full  force,  war  was  declared,  and  the  situa- 
tion looked  black  for  Radicals  of  all  sorts.  In  her 
novel  of  this  year,  Charlotte  Smith  drops  the  ques- 
tion of  the  French  Revolution  altogether,  and 
goes  back  to  safe  Whig  groimd.  In  1798  she  ven- 
tures again  upon  the  subject,  with  renewed  fervour. 
But  the  emphasis  is  changed.  She  has  lost  faith 
in  reform,  and  is  now  a  philosophic  Revolutionist. 

SECTION  4:  SOME   OTHER  LADY  NOVELISTS 

Elizabeth  Inchbald,  Amelia  Opie,  and  Char- 
lotte Smith  were  the  most  important  Lady 
Novelists  of  Revolutionary  sympathies.  There 
remain,  however,  several  names  of  less  promi- 
nence to  be  discussed;  ladies  who  wrote  only  one 
novel  that  is  of  interest  to  us,  and  some  with  a  less 
direct  claim  upon  our  attention. 

Elinor,  or  The  World  As  It  Is,  by  Mary  J.  Hana- 
way  (1798),  has  a  typical  Revolutionary  sub-title. 
There  are  traces  of  the  influence  of  Bage  in  the 
style  and  in  occasional  references.  There  is  an 
eccentric  old  lady,  a  champion  of  the  Rights  of 
Women,  who  is  mildly  satirized,  but  is  nevertheless 
quite  a  favoiirite  with  the  author.  Beyond  this, 
there  is  little  trace  of  Revolutionism  in  the  novel. 


And  the  English  Novel  223 

In  1802  appeared  a  novel  by  Mary  Hays,  The 
Memoirs  of  Emma  Courtney,  which  was  obviously 
written  under  the  influence  of  Godwin.  The 
author  says  in  her  preface  that: 

The  most  interesting  and  the  most  useful  fictions 
are  such  as  delineate  one  strong  indulged  passion  or 
prejudice,  affording  material  by  which  the  philosopher 
may  calculate  the  power  of  the  human  mind.  ^ 

Caleb  Williams  is  frequently  referred  to,  and  there 
is  a  striking  resemblance  to  Godwin's  later  novel, 
Mandeville  ( 1 8 1 7) .  The  central  figure  is  the  same : 
a  morbid  individualist  seized  with  a  ruling  passion 
amounting  to  mania,  which  no  reasoning  can  over- 
come. Only,  instead  of  a  man  obsessed  with  an 
insane  hatred,  we  have  here  a  woman  obsessed  with 
an  insane  love. 

Emma  Courtney  becomes  infatuated  with  a  man 
who  cares  nothing  for  her.  In  spite  of  her  own 
reason  and  the  warnings  of  her  friends,  she  grad- 
ually loses  all  pride  and  dignity  and  writes  him 
hysterical  letters  describing  the  extent  of  her  de- 
votion, and  her  utter  inability  to  control  it.  It 
would  appear  to  a  casual  observer  that  all  this  was 
in  the  nature  of  an  argument  against  the  Pure 
Reason  philosophies.  But  a  Godwinian  friend  gives 
the  author's  intended  moral  in  his  admonitions  to 
Emma.  "You  have  nursed  in  yourself  a  passion 
which,   taken  in  the  degree  in  which  you  have 

'  Memoirs  of  Emma  Courtney,  vol.  i.,  p.  i. 


224  The  French  Revolution 

experienced  it,  is  the  unnatural  and  odious  result 
of  a  distempered  and  unnatural  civilization."^ 

Miss  Hays's  method  is  as  Godwinian  as  her 
moral.  She  begins  with  an  idea  that : ' '  The  science 
of  mind  is  not  less  demonstrable  and  far  more 
important  than  the  science  of  Newton. " '  Where- 
upon she  proceeds  to  a  minute  introspective 
analysis  of  a  mind  which,  supposedly  owing  to  the 
present  faulty  environment,  is  under  the  influence 
of  passion  instead  of  reason.  The  result  is  the 
usual  one  in  psychological  novels;  instead  of  any 
real  insight  into  the  normal  mind,  she  merely  gives 
us  an  unpleasant  study  of  the  abnormal  without 
apparently  realizing  the  pathological  nature  of  her 
subject. 

Miss  Hays  leaves  us  in  no  doubt  as  to  the  sources 
of  her  philosophy.  Godwin,  Holcroft,  Paine,  WoU- 
stonecraft,  Rousseau,  and  Holbach  are  quoted 
frequently.  She  is  a  necessitarian,  a  perfectibilian, 
a  "Pure  Reasoner, "  and,  above  all,  an  indi- 
vidualist. 

Individual  happiness  [she  says],  constitutes  the 
general  good.  All  systems  of  morals  founded  on  any 
other  principle  involve  themselves  in  contradictions 
and  must  be  erroneous.^  Man  does  right  when  pur- 
suing interest  and  pleasure;  it  argues  no  depravity — 
this  is  the  fable  of  superstition;  he  ought  only  to  be 

'  Memoirs  of  Emma  Courtney,  vol.  i.,  p.  2. 

,» It  was  the  Godwinian  fallacy  to  make  the  self -consistency  of 
any  system  the  test  of  its  truth. 


And  the  English  Novel  225 

careful  that  in  seeking  his  own  good  he  does  not 
render  it  incompatible  with  the  good  of  others.* 

In  the  following  year  was  published  What  Has 
Been  (1803),  by  a  Mrs.  Mathews,  who  was  evi- 
dently as  much  influenced  by  Holcroft  as  Miss 
Hays  had  been  by  Godwin;  and  a  great  deal  more 
wholesome  influence  it  appears  to  have  been. 
She  quotes  Holcroft  frequently ;  one  of  her  charac- 
ters, a  benevolent  old  lady,  is  actually  named 
Mrs.  Ann  St.  Ives.^  Emily,  the  heroine,  thrown 
upon  her  own  resources,  has  at  first  too  much 
pride  to  become  a  governess:  " Her  reason  was  not 
yet  sufficiently  matured  to  correct  this  error.  "^ 
But  in  the  end  she  marries  a  young  Revolu- 
tionist without  income  or  prospects,  learning 
contentment  in  poverty  through  a  truer  scale 
of  values.  The  moral  with  which  the  novel  con- 
cludes is  that :  "  Civilization  has  introduced  liixury, 
from  which  originate  an  innumerable  throng  of 
vices  which  spread  their  destructive  influence  to 
the  lowest  ranks  of  society."'' 

One  of  the  devoted  friends  of  Mary  Wollstone- 
craft,  who  was  with  her  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
was  Mrs.  Eliza  Fen  wick.  Her  best -known  novel, 
Secrecy,  ^  is  not  in  its  main  outlines  Revolutionary. 

'  Memoirs  of  Emma  Courtney,  vol.  ii.,  p.  35. 
'  This  is,  however,  not  intended  to  be  the  same  person  as 
Holcroft's  /Iwna  5/.  Ives.     {Cf.  Chapter  III.,  of  this  thesis.) 

3  What  Has  Been,  vol.  i.,  p.  24. 

4  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  304. 

s  Not  dated.    Probably  not  earlier  than  1792  or  later  than  1796. 

IS 


226  The  French  Revolution 

But  it  frequently  attacks  the  evils  of  unquestion- 
ing obedience  to  any  authority  whose  only  sanc- 
tion is  custom. 

The  perpetual  hue  and  cry  after  obedience  has 
almost  driven  virtue  out  of  the  world  [says  Mrs. 
Fenwick],  for  be  it  unlimited  obedience  to  a  sovereign, 
to  a  parent,  or  a  husband  the  mind  yielding  itself  so, 
loses  its  individual  dignity/ 

Another  Lady  Novelist  who  was  an  enthusiastic 
Revolutionist  was  Miss  Ann  Plumptre  (1760- 
181 8),     One  of  her  contemporaries  says  of  her: 

She  was  well  known  as  a  democrat  and  an  ex- 
travagant worshipper  of  Napoleon.  In  18 10  she  de- 
clared she  would  welcome  him  if  he  invaded  England, 
because  he  would  do  away  with  aristocracy  and  give 
the  country  a  better  government.^ 

But  strange  to  say,  her  novels  show  almost  no 
traces  of  her  political  opinions.  Possibly  this  may 
be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  Miss  Plumptre 
did  not  begin  to  write  until  popular  prejudice 
against  Radicals  was  at  its  height,  and  she  may 
not  have  cared  to  antagonize  her  public.  ^ 

One  Lady  Novelist  of  a  slightly  later  period  who 

'  Secrecy,  vol.  i.,  p.  237.  This  novel  is  dedicated  to  "A  personal 
friend,  Eliza  B."  Could  this  be  Eliza  Bishop,  Mary  WoUstone- 
craft's  sister? 

^  Crabbe  Robinson,  Diary,  vol.  i.,  p.  156. 

J  Her  first  novel.  The  Rector's  Son,  was  published  in  1 798,  her 
other  three  in  1801,  1812,  and  1818. 


And  the  English  Novel  227 

certainly  deserves  to  be  mentioned  here  from  her 
connexions,  if  not  for  her  own  work,  is  Mary- 
Shelley,  daughter  of  Mary  Wollstonecraft  and 
Godwin,  and  wife  of  the  poet  Shelley.  Mary 
Shelley  was  the  author  of  several  novels  which 
show  traces  of  the  influences  by  which  she  was 
surrounded ;  but  their  connexion  with  Revolution- 
ism is  so  indirect  as  scarcely  to  warrant  us  in 
discussing  them. 

The  latest,  perhaps,  of  the  Lady  Novelists  whose 
connexion  with  the  Revolution  is  distinctly 
traceable  was  that  spoiled  child  of  the  age  of  Re- 
action, Lady  Caroline  Ponsonby  Lamb,  Viscoun- 
tess of  Melbourne  (i 785-1 828).  The  records  of 
her  contemporaries  show  her  to  us  as  a  woman  of 
delicate  and  appealing  beauty,  and  rare  charm 
of  manner.  But  it  is  also  apparent  that  she  was 
a  bundle  of  nerves  and  absolutely  undisciplined 
temper,  with  an  insatiable  craving  for  excitement 
of  every  sort.  She  was  apparently  happily  married 
to  a  man  who  came  as  near  to  managing  her 
successfully  as  any  one  could,  when  Lord  Byron 
first  appeared  in  London  society  and  became  the 
craze  of  the  hour.  Lady  Caroline  was  fascinated 
by  him.  In  1 8 1 6,  when  their  affair  came  to  an  end , 
she  rushed  into  print  with  her  account  of  it,  thinly 
disguised  as  a  novel.  The  title  role  in  Glenarvon 
is  a  travesty  of  Lord  Byron;  the  heroine  is  the 
writer  herself,  under  the  name  Lady  Calantha. 
Byron's  friends  were  exasperated.  Byron  himself 
coolly  remarked  that  if  the  lady  had  told  the  truth 


228  The  French  Revolution 

it  would  really  have  made  a  better  story.  A  re- 
cent description  of  a  certain  type  of  modem  novel 
fits  Glenarvon  admirably;  it  is  "neurotic,  erotic, 
and  tommy-rotic. "  A  more  incoherent  mass  of 
Rousseauism,  Revolutionism,  and  sheer  nonsense 
it  would  be  hard  to  find.  Lady  Caroline's  literary 
style  is  a  part  of  all  that  she  has  met.  Romantic 
titanism,  Ossianic  interludes  with  wild  Irish 
priestesses,  and  a  truly  Godwinian  treatment  of 
the  ruling  passion  idea  are  mingled  in  nightmarish 
confusion  with  society  wit  in  the  Restoration 
manner  and  incongruous  bits  of  typical  Lady- 
Novelist  didacticism.  The  plot  is  hopelessly 
incoherent,  but  one  gathers  that  Glenarvon  was 
a  desperately,  alluringly  wicked  serpent,  and  the 
lady  an  innocent  little  bird  whom  he  had  fasci- 
nated. In  the  end,  Calantha  is  deserted  by  Glenar- 
von, cast  off  by  her  husband,  dies  penitent,  and 
returns  to  haunt  Glenarvon  in  the  most  approved 
manner.  In  real  life,  one  regrets  to  say,  the  lady 
did  nothing  so  sensible  as  to  take  her  useless  self 
out  of  the  world  at  an  early  age.  Her  husband  did 
actually  institute  divorce  proceedings  against  her 
at  one  time,  but  it  was  principally  on  account  of 
her  intolerable  temper. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  how  many  other 
portraits  appear  in  Glenarvon.  One  of  the  charac- 
ters, for  instance,  is  a  certain  Irish  seeress,  Elinor 
St.  Clare,  who  calls  herself  Saint  Clara.  In  her 
brunette  beauty  one  may,  perhaps,  trace  a  resem- 
blance to  Jane  Clairmont,  who  called  herself  Clare. 


And  the  English  Novel  229 

Jane  Clairmont  was  the  stepdaughter  of  Godwin, 
and  must  have  been  well  known  to  Lady  Caroline. 
Her  affair  with  Byron  was  not  unlike  that  of  Saint 
Clara  with  Glenarvon. 

With  all  its  absurdities,  one  person  at  least 
seems  to  have  taken  Glenarvon  seriously  enough  to 
consider  it  a  menace  to  public  morals.  In  the 
following  year  appeared  Purity  of  Heart,  or  Woman 
As  She  Should  Be.  Addressed  to  the  Author  of 
Glenarvon  by  an  Old  Wife  of  Twenty  Years.  The 
preface  inveighs  against  the  "horrible  tendency  of 
the  dangerous  and  perverting  sophistry  of  this 
work."  The  novel  is  occupied  mainly  with  the 
ravings  of  "Lady  Calantha  Limb"  about  her 
De  Lyra  of  the  "rattlesnake  eyes, "  and  her  inten- 
tion to  publish  a  book  in  which  she  will  "sacrifice 
decency  to  revenge."'  By  way  of  contrast  there 
is  a  virtuous  matron  of  the  Griselda  type  whose 
adventures  give  the  novel  its  slight  semblance  of 
plot .  One  cannot  help  feeling  that ' '  An  Old  Wife ' ' 
was  rather  wasting  her  time  in  parodying  a  book 
which  effectively  parodies  itself. 

Lady  Caroline  Lamb  wrote  two  other  novels. 
Graham  Hamilton  (1822)  is  in  striking  contrast  to 
her  earlier  attempt.  This  is  an  entirely  common- 
place moral  tale.  There  are  echoes  of  Rousseau 
and  Godwin,  and  the  humanitarian  and  "victim 
of  society"  motifs  appear  frequently;  but  there 
is  little  in  the  novel  for  which  the  most  orthodox 
of  Lady  Novelists  need  apologize.     Its  purpose, 

'  Purity  of  Heart,  vol.  i.,  p.  125. 


230  The  English  Novel 

apparently,  is  to  point  out  the  suffering  among 
tradespeople  caused  by  society  women  who  live 
beyond  their  incomes  and  refuse  to  pay  their 
debts. 

Her  last  novel,  Ada  Reis  (1823), is,  if  not  Revolu- 
tionary, at  least  distinctly  Byronic  in  the  type  of 
imagination  displayed.  Ada  Reis  is  an  Oriental 
pirate  who  aspires  to  be  a  king.  He  enters  into 
treaty  with  a  Spirit  of  Evil  who  haunts  him  in  the 
guise  of  a  mysterious  stranger.  Ada  Reis's  daugh- 
ter, Fiormonda,  is  loved  by  a  Spirit  of  Good,  the 
brother  of  the  Evil  One.  These  represent  rival 
forces  in  the  universe,  in  a  manner  very  suggestive 
of  the  Manichean  theology  of  Cain.  Fiormonda 
forgets  her  first  love  and  turns  to  the  Evil  Spirit, 
After  death,  Fiormonda  and  Ada  Reis  reign,  proud 
and  unhappy,  in  a  vague  Kingdom  of  Darkness. 

Lady  Caroline  Lamb's  relation  to  Revolution- 
ism and  to  the  titanism  of  the  age  of  Reaction  is 
that  of  a  child  who  repeats  incoherently  half- 
understood  phrases.  She  was  an  admirer  of  God- 
win, and  corresponded  with  him  for  some  time.  ^ 
But  it  is  quite  evident  that  her  knowledge  of 
Revolutionism  was  very  superficial,  and  her  use  of 
its  catchwords  was  little  more  than  a  fad. 

■  Several  of  her  letters  to  Godwin  are  preserved  in  Paul's 
William  Godwin,  His  Friends  and  Contemporaries. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    FRENCH    REVOLUTION    AND   THE 
RIGHTS  OF  WOMAN 

SECTION    I:   INTRODUCTION   AND    BACKGROUND 

AMONG  the  novels  which  we  are  considering 
there  are  a  number  which  concern  them- 
selves with  various  aspects  of  what  our  grand- 
mothers called  "the  Rights  of  Woman. "  These 
deal  with  a  special  aspect  of  eighteenth-century 
radicalism.  Their  significance  can  hardly  be 
made  clear  without  some  preliminary  discussion 
of  the  earlier  literature  of  the  subject  by  way  of 
background. 

There  is  a  popular  tendency  to  date  the  entire 
modem  feminist  movement  from  the  period  of  the 
French  Revolution.  Mary  Wollstonecraft  has 
frequently  been  referred  to  as  the  "first  champion 
of  the  Rights  of  Women."  This  is  a  half-truth, 
not  to  be  accepted  without  explanation  and 
comment.  There  was  a  steadily  increasing  litera- 
ture dealing  with  every  aspect  of  the  woman 
question  for  centuries  before  the  time  of  Mary 
Wollstonecraft. 

Dr.  Alexander  tells  us  that  "Boccaccio  was  the 
231 


232  The  French  Revolution 

first  who  started  the  idea  of  writing  anything 
better  than  a  song  or  a  sonnet  to  woman.  "^  But 
it  was  in  the  sixteenth  century  in  England  that 
discussions  of  the  equality  of  the  sexes  began  in 
good  earnest.  This  was  precisely  the  kind  of 
subject  to  appeal  to  that  discussion-loving  age; 
offering  infinite  scope  for  the  display  of  intellec- 
tual adroitness  with  no  danger  of  reaching  any 
conclusion.  It  combined  the  gallantry  of  the 
mediaeval  courts  of  love  with  the  semi-theological 
hair-splitting  of  the  schoolmen  as  to  whether 
women  were  or  were  not  to  be  considered  human 
beings.  However  extreme  the  position  on  either 
side,  these  pleasant  polemics  were  never  intended 
to  be  taken  seriously.  They  indicate  no  social 
maladjustment,  hardly  even  individual  discontent; 
and  with  the  possible  exception  of  the  grim 
diatribes  of  John  Knox,  aim  at  no  practical 
result. 

English  feminist  literature  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  falls  into  three  general 
classifications:  (i)  panegyrics  of  woman  in  the 
abstract,  and  lives  of  distinguished  women;  (2) 
discussions  of  the  relative  merits  of  the  sexes, 
and  defences  of  women's  logical  right  to  enter 
various  professions;  and  (3)  rules  of  conduct  for 
ladies. 

At  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  comes  a 
Serious  Proposal  to  Ladies,   by  the  gentle  and 

'  Alexander,  History  of  Women,  quoted  in  Westminster  Review, 
vol.  clviii.,  p.  312. 


And  the  English  Novel  233 

scholarly  Mary  Astell.^  She  feels  a  real  inade- 
quacy in  the  educational  opportunities  open  to 
women.  Her  "Proposal"  is  for  the  establishment 
of  a  studious  retreat,  something  between  a  nun- 
nery and  a  seminary;  a  plan  which  was  actually 
tried  during  the  following  century. 

The  year  1739  is  an  important  one  in  the  history 
of  feminist  literature.  It  is  marked  by  a  number 
of  articles  appearing  almost  simultaneously  in 
various  periodicals.  The  first  is  a  very  significant 
article  in  the  Craftsman' s  Magazine  pointing  out 
the  waste  involved  in  keeping  single  women  of  the 
middle  class  untrained  and  unemployed.  The 
writer  advocates  "  making  women  as  useful  and 
capable  of  maintaining  themselves  as  men,  and 
preventing  them  from  becoming  old  maids. " 

This  economic  feminism  in  the  Craftsman' s 
Magazine  finds  its  idealistic  counterpart  in  the 
Gentleman' s  Magazine  for  July  of  the  same  year, 
in  a  little  essay  praising  women  of  civic  virtue, 
"who  preferred  public  safety  to  private  conquest. " 

An  unidentified  sentimentalist,  writing  in  a 
periodical  called  Common  Sense  on  "The  Province 
of  Women,"  denies  them  everything  but  "love. "^ 
This  called  forth  a  spirited  little  volume  entitled 
Woman  Not  Inferior  to  Man  (etc.).     The  writer, 

'  The  authorship  of  the  Serious  Proposal  to  Ladies  has  been 
called  in  question  in  a  recent  publication  of  the  Modern  Language 
Association.  Until  the  point  is  settled,  however,  I  think  we  may 
continue  to  assume  that  Mary  Astell  is  the  author. 

»  Westminster  Review,  vol.  cl.,  p.  536. 


234  The  French  Revolution 

who  signs  herself  "Sophia,  a  Gentlewoman,"  has 
been  not  inaptly  called  "the  first  of  the  militants." 
Her  somewhat  irritating  assertiveness  was  not 
allowed  to  pass  unchallenged.  "A  Gentleman" 
answers  promptly,  in  a  book  with  the  equally 
uncompromising  title:  Man  Superior  to  Woman: 
or  A  Vindication  of  Mans  Natural  Right  of  Au- 
thority Over  the  Woman.  The  nature  of  his  reply 
makes  his  nom  de  plume  seem  a  touch  of  irony ;  he 
disdains  even  the  obvious  arguments,  and  resorts 
to  ribald  vituperation.  "Sophia"  retorts  at  once, 
in  a  treatise,  Woman's  Superior  Excellence  Over 
Man:  A  Reply  to  the  Author  of  a  Late  Treatise — 
In  Which  the  Excessive  Weakness  of  that  Gentle- 
man's A  nswer  is  Exposed.  ' '  Sophia, ' '  one  feels  has 
rather  lost  her  temper,  but  it  must  be  admitted  that 
she  "exposes"  her  opponent  with  entire  success. 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  to  identify 
the  participants  in  this  interesting  little  literary 
skirmish.  A  suggestion  has  even  been  hazarded, 
plausible  but  without  foundation,  that  this  is  an 
anonymous  continuation  of  hostilities  between 
Pope  and  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montagu. 

In  the  same  year,  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
contains  a  correspondence  on  the  abstract  right 
of  women  to  be  represented  in  any  professedly 
representative  government.  It  was  at  about  this 
time  also  that  an  episode  occurred  which  Lady 
Mary  Wortley  Montagu  records  in  her  Letters.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  exclude  ladies  from  hearing 
the  debates  in  the  House  of  Lords.    Rather  than 


And  the  English  Novel  235 

lose  this  privilege,  the  ladies  resorted  to  methods 
rather  suggestive  of  the  twentieth  century.  For 
seven  hours,  "they  stood  at  the  door  without  bite 
or  sup,  and  carried  their  point." 

Within  these  two  years  (1739  and  1740),  we 
find  in  embryo  most  of  the  elements  of  subsequent 
feminist  literature:  dreary  wastes  of  fanaticism 
versus  prejudice,  absurd  sentimentalism  and 
equally  absurd  appeals  to  abstract  rights,  but 
withal,  two  elements  of  permanent  value:  a  per- 
ception of  the  economic  factor,  and  a  sound  ideal  of 
the  social  duties  and  responsibilities  of  women. 

During  the  next  fifty  years  the  only  significant 
additions  to  feminist  literature  were  a  number  of 
sentimental  theories  on  the  education  of  girls,  all 
more  or  less  directly  influenced  by  Rousseau's 
Entile.  Mary  Wollstonecraft  discusses  the  most 
noteworthy  of  these;  Dr.  Gregory's  Legacy  to  His 
Daughters,  Fordyce's  Sermons,  and  Hester  Cha- 
pone's  Letters. 

It  should  be  observed  that  between  the  femin- 
ism of  Rousseau  and  that  of  Mary  Wollstonecraft 
there  is  no  connexion  whatever.  They  hold 
exactly  opposite  views  of  the  chief  end  of  woman. 
"Sophie"  exists  purely  for  "Emile."  Rousseau 
cannot  conceive  of  her  as  being  of  any  value  to 
herself  or  to  society  as  a  whole.  Her  one  aim  in 
life  is  to  be  attractive ;  her  one  happiness  is  in  being 
loved.  She  reflects,  "that  a  thinking  man  may 
not  yawn  in  her  society."  Instead  of  an  education,  * 

'  Rousseau.  Emile,  Book  V. 


236  The  French  Revolution 

she  has  "  accompHshments. "  Her  very  modesty 
exists  only  to  give  zest  to  the  wooing  of  her.  It  is 
against  this  conception  that  Mary  WoUstonecraft 
protests.  The  basis  of  all  her  writings  is  the 
assumption  that  women  are  before  all  else  human 
beings,  with  all  human  dignity  and  responsibilities. 
Her  ideal  is  one  of  self-respect  and  service  to 
society,  whether  that  service  be  the  writing  of 
books  or  the  rearing  of  future  citizens.  To  the 
objection  that  seems  to  Rousseau  conclusive: 
"Educate  women  like  men,  and  the  more  they 
resemble  our  sex  the  less  power  will  they  have  over 
us,"  she  replies  finely:  "This  is  the  very  point  I 
aim  at;  I  do  not  wish  them  to  have  power  over 
men,  but  over  themselves. "  ^ 

Unquestionably  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
Revolution  marks  a  distinct  epoch  in  the  feminist 
movement.  "Since  when  have  women  occupied 
themselves  with  politics?"  Napoleon  is  said  to 
have  asked  Madame  de  Stael.  "Since  they  have 
been  guillotined,"  was  the  reply.  Perhaps  the 
first  serious  demand  ever  made  by  women  for 
political  representation  and  equal  suffrage  was  the 
Cahier  presented  to  the  king  at  the  meeting  of  the 
States  General  in  1789.  A  similar  petition  was 
addressed  to  the  National  Assembly  in  the  same 
year,  and  endorsed  by  the  philosopher  Condorcet. 
It  was  rejected,  "with  scorn  and  derision."  But 
many  of  the  leaders  of  the  Revolution  were  in 
favour   of   it,   among  them  Talleyrand-Perigord, 

M  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Woman,  ed.  Boston,  1792,  p.  112. 


And  the  English  Novel  237 

Bishop  of  Autun,  to  whom  A   Vindication  of  the 
Rights  of  Woman  is  dedicated. 

Miss  Mcllquham  says :  "Three  valuable  pleas  for 
justice  to  womanhood  were  undoubtedly  the  out- 
come of  the  French  Revolution,  viz.,  Condorcet's 
Sur  V Admission  des  Femmes  au  Droit  de  Cite,  Mary 
WoUstonecraft's  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of 
Woman,  and  Count  Segur's  Women,  Their  Condi- 
tion and  Influence  in  Society.'" "^  It  is  not  quite 
accurate,  however,  to  call  A  Vindication  of  the 
Rights  of  Woman  an  outcome  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, in  spite  of  the  stimulus  it  unquestionably 
received  from  that  source.  Dining  the  latter  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century  there  were  other  forces 
at  work  in  England,  forces  dimly  foreshadowed  by 
that  unknown  writer  in  the  Craftsman' s  Magazine. 
Not  least  of  the  social  maladjustments  arising  from 
the  Industrial  Revolution  were  those  affecting 
women.  As  factories  developed,  the  home  became 
less  and  less  a  centre  of  industry.  The  spinning 
and  weaving  of  cloth,  for  example,  lacemaking, 
and  all  manner  of  handicrafts  were  no  longer 
carried  on  in  each  individual  family  for  use  or  sale. 
The  woman  in  the  home  found  her  range  of  occu- 
pation rapidly  diminished.  Below  a  certain  social 
scale  she  followed  her  work  into  the  factories.  But 
the  self-supporting  middle-class  woman  found  her- 
self facing  an  economic  situation  that  was  fast 
becoming  intolerable.  Without  a  "fortune"  she 
could  not  marry  advantageously;  the  superfluous 

'  Westminster  Review,  vol.  clx.,  p.  541. 


238  The  French  Revolution 

daughter  or  sister  in  the  home  was  no  longer  a  val- 
uable asset ;  and  outside  the  home  the  wretchedly 
paid  and  almost  menial  occupations  of  governess, 
"companion,"  and  seamstress  were  the  only  ones 
open  to  her.  It  is  the  consequent  somewhat  vague 
and  uncomprehending  social  unrest  that  finds  ex- 
pression in  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  rather  than  a 
desire  for  political  rights.  She  was  undoubtedly 
much  influenced,  as  we  shall  see,  by  Godwin  and  his 
circle.  But  leaving  aside  the  extraneous  matter 
borrowed  from  the  Pure  Reason  philosophies,  A 
Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Woman  reduces  itself 
to  a  clear-headed  and  surprisingly  modern  demand 
for  a  truer  ideal,  a  sound  education,  and  the  right 
to  work. 

Is  not  that  government  very  defective  [she  writes], 
and  very  unmindful  of  the  happiness  of  its  members, 
that  does  not  provide  for  honest  independent  women 
by  encouraging  them  to  fill  respectable  stations  ?  How 
many  women  waste  life  away,  the  prey  of  discontent, 
who  might  have  practised  as  physicians,  regulated  a 
farm,  managed  a  shop,  and  stood  erect,  supported  by 
their  own  industry ! ' 

Perhaps  no  other  single  book  cut  so  deep  into 
the  mind  of  the  time  as  this.  Everywhere  it  was 
hailed  as  the  beginning  of  a  new  movement  and 
greeted  with  a  storm  of  protest.  On  its  publica- 
tion, criticism  was  divided.  The  Analytical  Review 
endorsed  it  unhesitatingly.  The  Critical  Review 
writes  in  a  tone  of  patronizing  disapproval : 

'  Wollstonecraft,  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Woman,  chapter  i. 


And  the  English  Novel  239 

We  are  infinitely  better  pleased  with  the  present 
system.  In  truth,  dear  young  lady,  endeavour  to 
attain  the  elegancy  of  mind,  and  sweet  docility  of 
manners,  the  ornaments  of  your  sex;  we  are  certain 
you  will  be  more  pleasing,  and  we  dare  pronounce  that 
you  will  be  infinitely  happier. 

Other  commentators  are  less  courteous:  instead  of 
discussing  the  book  they  resort  to  irrelevant  and 
often  scurrilous  attacks  upon  the  character  of  the 
author. 

For  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  its  publi- 
cation, all  the  ideas  of  the  woman  movement  were 
practically  identified  with  the  Vindication.  It 
was  one  of  those  inevitable  books  that  crystallize 
a  tendency  in  their  time.  Mary  Wollstonecraft 
became  the  symbol  of  a  certain  form  of  unrest. 
The  general  trend  of  discussion  we  shall  find  fully 
illustrated  in  the  novels  which  we  are  about  to 
consider. 

With  this  brief  sketch  of  early  feminist  literature 
as  a  background  we  may  turn  to  our  subject  proper, 
— Mary  Wollstonecraft  as  a  novelist,  and  some 
other  novels  of  the  Revolutionary  period  dealing 
with  the  position  of  women. 

SECTION   2:   MARY  WOLLSTONECRAFT 

It  can  hardly  have  failed  to  occur  to  us  how  few 
of  the  novelists  we  have  considered  so  far  are 
living  figures  in  the  world  of  literature.  A  few 
volumes  gathering  dust  on  the  shelves  of  libraries 


240  The  French  Revolution 

and  special  collections,  occasional  perfunctory- 
notices  in  histories  of  the  novel ;  these  are  all  that 
remain  of  the  little  group  who  echoed  in  the  fiction 
of  their  time  the  splendid  audacities  that  so  in- 
spired the  poets  of  the  Revolution. 

But  there  is  one  figure  in  the  group  about  whom 
controversy  has  never  ceased  to  rage.  Through- 
out the  centtuy  that  has  elapsed  since  her  death, 
Mary  Wollstonecraft  has  been  honoured  and 
bitterly  attacked,  but  never  treated  with  in- 
difference;  loved  and  hated,  but  never  forgotten. 
The  spirit  of  controversy  is  as  strong  in  her 
twentieth-century  commentators  as  it  was  in  her 
contemporaries . 

We  are  concerned  here  primarily  with  the  novels, 
which  formed  a  very  insignificant  part  of  her  work. 
Two  were  early  attempts;  the  most  important, 
The  Wrongs  of  Woman,  was  left  unfinished  at  her 
death.  As  novels,  her  critics  agree,  none  of  the 
three  are  very  valuable.  If  it  be  objected  that 
these  form  but  a  very  small  excuse  for  a  somewhat 
lengthy  discussion  of  the  author,  we  can  only  plead 
that  in  order  to  arrive  at  any  just  estimate  of  The 
Wrongs  of  Woman  we  must  know  something  of  the 
"Rights  of  Woman"  movement,  and,  most  of  all, 
something  of  the  rights  and  wrongs  of  the  woman 
of  whose  life  and  personality  these  novels  are  so 
largely  a  record.  It  is  to  Mary  Wollstonecraft 
herself  that  we  must  turn  for  the  explanation  of  her 
works.  She  knew  life  at  first  hand,  thought  for 
herseH  with  vigour  and  directness,  and  managed 


And  the  English  Novel  241 

somehow  to  see  so  far  below  the  surface  of  her  time 
that  the  conclusions  she  reached  have  not  yet 
become  commonplaces. 

Biographical  details  are  usually  rather  dull 
reading;  but  how,  in  every  record  that  she  touches, 
Mary  Wollstonecraft  lives!  Our  own  contem- 
poraries are  not  more  real  to  us  than  this  woman  of 
a  hundred  years  ago.  One  has  an  odd  feeling  of 
having  known  and  talked  with  her  somewhere — 
the  girl  of  Opie's  portraits,  with  her  sweet,  wistful 
face  under  the  soft  waves  of  dark  auburn  hair, 
the  expressive  brown  eyes  that  Southey  praised 
so,  the  sensitive,  almost  childlike  mouth. 

The  first  eighteen  years  of  her  life  were  passed 
in  an  atmosphere  of  poverty  and  family  squabbles 
in  which  she  usually  acted  as  buffer.  Her  father, 
a  combination  of  brute  and  sentimentalist,  aroused 
his  daughter's  fierce  contempt.  One  gets  strange 
glimpses  of  the  child  interfering  to  protect  her 
mother  and  the  four  younger  children  from  actual 
cruelty.  This  intolerable  family  life  Mary  left  to 
become  a  paid  companion  to  a  widow  of  uncertain 
temper,  but  after  a  few  months  was  called  home  by 
her  mother's  illness.  After  the  death  of  her  mother 
Mary  left  home  definitely,  and  went  to  live  with 
her  friend  Fanny  Blood,  a  girl  whose  home  was 
almost  the  duplicate  of  Mary's  own.  Mrs.  Blood 
joined  them,  and  for  two  years  the  three  women 
eked  out  a  precarious  living  by  needlework.  Mean- 
while Mary's  younger  sister  Eliza  had  married  a 
Mr.  Bishop,  fancying  that  matrimony  offered  a 
16 


242  The  French  Revolution 

better  means  of  escape  from  an  intolerable  home 
than  Mary's  plan  of  self-support.  It  did  not.  By 
1783  the  Bishops  had  reached  a  domestic  crisis, 
and  the  task  of  rescuing  her  sister  fell  upon  Mary. 
She  persuaded  Fanny  Blood  to  join  her  in  starting 
a  school  at  Islington,  where  her  sister  might  find 
a  refuge;  in  January,  1784,  Eliza  was  smuggled 
away  from  her  husband's  house,  half -insane,  "bit- 
ing her  wedding  ring  to  pieces  in  the  coach." 
Mary  wrote  to  her  sister  Everina:  "I  hope  B.  will 
not  discover  us ;  for  I  could  sooner  face  a  lion.  .  .  . 
Bess  is  determined  not  to  return.  Can  he  force 
her?"  He  could,  legally,  as  she  very  well  knew; 
but  fortunately  he  did  not.  Meanwhile  Mary 
felt  the  full  force  of  popular  opinion,  and  writes 
bitterly : 

I  knew  I  should  be  the  shameful  incendiary  in  the 
shocking  affair  of  a  woman's  leaving  her  bedfellow. 
They  thought  the  strong  affection  of  a  sister  might 
apologize  for  my  conduct,  but  that  the  scheme  was 
by  no  means  a  good  one.  In  short,  quite  contrary  to 
all  the  rules  of  conduct  that  are  published  for  new- 
married  ladies,  by  whose  advice  Mrs.  Brook  was 
actuated  when  she  with  great  grief  of  heart  gave  up 
my  friendship.'^ 

The  school  struggled  along  for  several  years  on 
the  verge  of  failure.  Fanny  Blood  married,  and 
died  soon  after.  Eliza  and  Everina  Wollstonecraft 
took  positions  as  governesses.    Mary  continued  to 

'  Taylor,  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  p.  50. 


And  the  English  Novel  243 

make  a  bare  living  with  the  pupils  that  remained, 
by  doing  all  the  work  of  the  cottage  herself.  She 
decided  to  try  her  hand  at  writing.  In  1785  her 
Thoughts  on  the  Education  of  Daughters  was  pub- 
lished by  Joseph  Johnson.  It  is  characterized  by 
her  usual  good  sense  and  independence  of  thought, 
and  contains  many  of  the  very  modem  ideas  which 
she  afterward  expressed  more  fully  in  the  Vindica- 
tion of  the  Rights  of  Woman.  Johnson  paid  her 
ten  pounds  for  it,  which  she  promptly  handed  over 
to  the  Bloods,  who  certainly  did  not  need  it  any 
more  than  she  did. 

In  1787,  Mary  gave  up  the  hopeless  task  of  trying 
to  rim  a  school  with  neither  capital  nor  patronage, 
and  took  a  position  as  governess  to  Lady  Kings- 
borough.  Here  she  had  her  first  taste  of  aris- 
tocratic and  fashionable  life.  Her  reaction  is 
vigorous  and  characteristic.  "There  is  such  a 
solemn  kind  of  stupidity  about  this  place  as  froze 
my  very  soul,"  she  wrote  to  her  sister.  After  a 
year  as  a  governess  she  could  endure  it  no  longer, 
and  came  to  London,  boldly  determined  to  sup- 
port herself  by  her  pen.  Her  letters  at  this  time 
show  the  coin-age  of  desperation.  "I  am,  then, 
to  be  the  first  of  a  new  genius.  I  tremble  at  the 
attempt.     But  I  must  be  independent. " 

For  the  next  four  years  Mary  Wollstonecraft 
lived  in  London,  a  shabby,  overworked  young  hack- 
writer. She  was  successful  from  the  first,  but  she 
had  an  incirrable  habit  of  giving  away  almost  all 
she  earned.     During  this  time  she  kept  in  school 


244  The  French  Revolution 

three  of  her  brothers  and  sisters,  sent  Eliza  to 
France  to  learn  the  language,  and  virtually  sup- 
ported her  father  in  addition.  Mary's  family  were 
all  stupid,  disagreeable  people,  not  in  the  least 
worth  the  trouble  she  took  with  them;  her  sisters 
afterward  showed  themselves  thoroughly  spiteful 
and  ungrateful.  But  Mary  never  expected  sym- 
pathy or  appreciation  from  those  she  helped. 
She  took  care  of  them  as  a  matter  of  course,  be- 
cause it  was  plain  that  they  would  not  take  care 
of  themselves. 

During  these  years  however,  there  was  another 
side  to  Mary  Wollstonecraft's  life.  Through  her 
friendship  with  Joseph  Johnson,  the  publisher  of 
most  of  the  radical  literature  of  the  time,  she  came 
in  touch  with  a  group  of  men  and  women  of  in- 
tellect and  originality  who  were  thinking  in  terms 
of  the  French  Revolutionary  philosophies.  John- 
son treated  her  like  a  daughter;  Paine,  Home 
Tooke,  Fordyce,  Godwin,  Fuseli,  Holcroft,  and 
all  their  brilliant  circle  welcomed  her  as  an  equal. 
In  that  congenial  fellowship  her  powers  of  intellect 
and  personality  reached  their  full  development. 
She  was  a  woman  whom  men  of  genius  always 
admired.  Dr.  Price  had  long  been  her  devoted 
friend,  and  as  a  young  girl  she  had  even  succeeded 
in  attracting  the  attention  of  the  great  Dr.  John- 
son. It  is  obvious  that  her  ideas  were  profoundly 
influenced  by  the  extreme  Revolutionary  doctrines 
of  the  group  in  which  she  now  found  herself. 
Rather,  it  is  needful  to  point  out  wherein  she 


And  the  English  Novel  245 

differed  from  them;  and  how  it  is  that  in  some 
respects  this  obsctire  girl  teacher  saw  her  time  with 
clearer  eyes  than  any  of  its  professional  philo- 
sophers. 

In  1790,  Burke's  Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in 
France  appeared,  attacking  Dr.  Price's  sermon 
before  the  Revolution  Society.  Mary  WoUstone- 
craft  was  the  first  in  the  field  with  an  answer.  A 
Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Man,  in  a  Letter  to  the 
Right  Honourable  Edmund  Burke  is  as  clever  a  bit  of 
rough  and  ready  argument  as  any  in  the  language. 
Its  defects  in  style  and  structure  are  numerous; 
it  was  written  over  night,  almost,  and  Mary 
never  could  be  induced  to  take  any  interest  in 
questions  of  mere  literary  craftsmanship.  But  it 
has  a  more  serious  fault.  It  is  not  fair  to  the  great 
statesman  against  whom  it  is  directed.  Humility 
was  never  Mary's  strong  point.  The  tone  which 
she  adopts  towards  her  distinguished  opponent  is 
almost  insolent  in  its  audacity.  Burke  had  tm- 
deniably  scored  against  the  Revolutionists  when  he 
insisted  that  political  systems  are  of  slow  growth, 
built  on  practical  needs  and  expediencies,  not  on 
abstract  reasonings.  But  Mary  Wollstonecraft 
meeting  Burke  on  his  own  ground  of  practical 
consideration  of  facts,  convicts  him  in  turn  of 
building  air  castles,  and  saying  "all  is  well"  where 
all  is  far  from  well.  She  brushes  aside  all  his 
rhapsodies  on  the  sacredness  of  the  past  and  the 
glories  of  England,  and  goes  straight  to  the  heart 
of  his  whole  concern  for  the  maintenance  of  the 


246  The  French  Revolution 

established  order.  "  Security  of  property !  Behold 
in  a  few  words  the  definition  of  English  liberty. 
But  softly,- — it  is  only  the  property  of  the  rich  that 
is  secure. "  She  sees  perfectly  clearly  the  economic 
basis  for  the  conservatism  of  the  property  holders ; 
but,  belonging  herself  to  the  earning  rather  than  to 
the  owning  classes,  she  does  not  feel  quite  so 
forcibly  as  Burke  the  extreme  sanctity  of  capital. 
Furthermore,  his  eloquent  tears  over  the  sufferings 
of  the  Queen  of  France  were  a  little  too  much  for 
the  patience  of  the  woman  who  knew  by  experi- 
ence how  much  chivalry  his  world  had  for  women 
on  the  wrong  side  of  the  economic  situation.  If 
there  was  one  thing  Mary  hated  it  was  sentimental 
cant.  She  meets  Burke's  condemnation  of  the 
French  Revolution  on  the  basis  of  its  early  acts  by 
pointing  out  conditions  existing  under  that  British 
government  Burke  so  admired;  closing  with  a 
burst  of  indignation  more  forcible  than  coiirteous, 
"What  were  the  outrages  of  a  day  to  these  con- 
tinual miseries?  Such  misery  demands  more  than 
tears.  I  pause  to  recollect  myself  and  smother  the 
contempt  I  feel  for  your  rhetorical  flourishes  and 
infantine  sensibility."^ 

Two  years  later  came  the  publication  of  Mary 
Wollstonecraft's  best-known  book,  A  Vindication 
of  the  Rights  of  Woman,  the  significance  of  which 
we  have  discussed  elsewhere.      This  may  to  some 

^  Wollstonecraft,  Rights  of  Man,  ed.,  London,  1790,  pp.  23  and 
144. 


And  the  English  Novel  247 

extent  be  taken  as  the  text  of  which  her  semi- 
autobiographical  novels  are  the  illustration. 

The  last  four  years  of  Mary  Wollstonecraft's 
life  show  another  side  of  her  very  complex  charac- 
ter. She  was  a  woman  who  could  not  only  think 
clearly  and  act  resolutely,  but  feel  greatly.  There 
are  many  improfitable  ways  of  considering  the 
love  affairs  of  Mary  Wollstonecraf t ;  her  well- 
meaning  commentators  have  done  their  best  to 
furnish  us  with  examples  of  all  of  them.  It  is  a 
subject  fatally  easy  to  preach  about  or  sentimen- 
talize over.  One  fancies  how  intensely  annoyed 
Mary  herself  would  be  with  either  attitude.  It 
may  be  well  to  point  out  that  society  settled  its 
score  with  her  something  over  a  hundred  years  ago. 
There  was  little  enough  of  happiness  in  her  short 
life.  One  would  think  the  most  incurably  ethical 
might  be  satisfied  with  the  moral  to  be  drawn  from 
her  conduct  and  its  consequences  to  herself. 

Briefly,  in  1792  or  thereabouts,  Mary  Wollstone- 
craf t,  having  forgotten  her  own  very  wise  remarks 
on  the  dangers  of  platonic  friendships,  found  herself 
too  much  interested  in  the  painter  Fuseli  for  either 
her  own  peace  of  mind  or  that  of  his  wife.  Where- 
upon she  very  sensibly  ran  away  to  France.  There 
she  witnessed  some  stirring  scenes  in  the  great 
drama  of  the  time,  and  wrote  her  conclusions  upon 
them  in  A  Historical  and  Moral  View  of  the  French 
Revolution.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  Mary's 
emotional  crises  never  affected  her  remarkable 
insight  into  the  economic  causes  underlying  politi- 


248  The  French  Revolution 

cal  phenomena.  She  was  perhaps  the  only  one  of 
the  English  Radicals  who  was  never  misled  as  to  the 
real  significance  of  the  French  Revolution. 

I  wish  I  cotild  inform  you  [she  wrote],  that  out  of  the 
chaos  of  vices  and  follies,  prejudices  and  virtues, 
rudely  jumbled  together,  I  saw  the  fair  form  of  liberty 
slowly  rising  and  virtue  expanding  her  wings  to  shelter 
all  her  children.  .  .  .  But  if  the  aristocracy  of  birth 
is  levelled  to  the  ground  only  to  make  room  for  that  of 
riches,  I  am  afraid  the  moral  of  the  people  will  not 
be  much  improved  by  the  change.  .  .  .  Everything 
whispers  to  me  that  names,  not  principles,  are  changed. ' 

While  in  Paris,  Mary  met  Captain  Gilbert  Im- 
lay,  an  American,  with  whom  she  formed  the 
connexion  that  has  caused  such  acute  embarrass- 
ment to  her  apologists.  It  has  been  pointed  out 
that  conditions  in  Paris  were  such  as  to  make  a 
formal  marriage  with  its  accompanying  declara- 
tion of  nationality  extremely  dangerous.  Mary 
was  certainly  registered  at  the  American  Embassy 
as  Imlay's  wife,  and  acknowledged  as  such  by  him 
in  documents  which  would  be  accepted  in  many 
countries  as  conclusive  evidence  of  marriage.  But 
later,  when  Imlay's  fickle  conduct  forced  Mary 
most  unwillingly  to  give  him  up,  society  was 
shocked  to  discover  that  there  was  no  legal  con- 
straint to  prevent  their  separation. 

Imlay  was  himself  the  author  of  a  tendenz  novel, 
The  Emigrants,  attacking   "The  sacrilege  which 

'  Wollstonecraft,  Posthumous  Works,  vol.  iv.,  p.  43. 


And  the  English  Novel  249 

the  present  practices  of  matrimonial  engagement 
necessarily  produce."  J.  Stirling  Taylor  says  of 
it: 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know — which  we  do  not — 
whether  these  heterodox  views  came  from  Mary,  or 
whether  it  was  the  other  way  round  and  Imlay  the 
teacher.  Since  the  book  was  almost  certainly  finished 
in  Paris,  either  theory  may  be  true;  the  influences  may 
have  been  mutual.^ 

In  the  Pure  Reason  philosophies  of  Godwin  and 
his  circle,  marriage  was  often  referred  to  as  a  form 
of  tyranny.  But  Mary  was  not  of  the  type  of 
mind  that  seeks  martyrdom  for  metaphysical 
abstractions.  She  usually  drew  her  own  conclu- 
sions from  actual  observation.  When  one  remem- 
bers the  homes  Mary  had  known  best — her  own 
and  the  Bloods' — and  her  experiences  in  rescuing 
her  sister  from  the  old  English  marriage  law  which 
regarded  the  wife  as  "property,"  it  is  not  incom- 
prehensible that  Mary  developed  a  certain  lack  of 
appreciation  of  the  desirability  of  having  her  own 
marriage  legally  binding. 

However  that  may  be,  she  received  drastic 
demonstration  of  the  extreme  unwisdom  of  her 
course.  The  Imlay  letters,  published  after  her 
death,  are  a  pathetic  record  of  her  brief  happiness, 
Imlay's  unfaithfulness,  her  desperate  efforts  to 
regain  his  affection,  growing  estrangement,  and  the 
final  parting :  "  I  go  to  find  peace.    May  you  never 

'  Taylor,  Mary  WoUstonecraft,  p.  137. 


250  The  French  Revolution 

know  by  experience  what  you  have  made  me 
endure." 

She  returned  to  London.  That  haunting  ten- 
dency to  melanchoHa,  the  result  of  nerves  shattered 
in  her  early  struggles,  overwhelmed  her ;  and  for  the 
second  time  in  her  life  Mary  Wollstonecraft  at- 
tempted suicide.  She  was  rescued  from  the 
Thames,  however,  and  took  up  her  work  again, 
gradually  regaining  her  lost  peace  of  mind  through 
the  necessity  of  caring  for  herself  and  her  child, 
Fanny  Imlay.  Mary  cared  little  for  social  position 
or  for  wealth;  the  two  things  she  could  not  live 
without  were  her  own  self-respect  and  her  econo- 
mic independence.  There  is  a  flash  of  the  old 
spirit  when  Imlay  offers  to  support  her  and  his 
child. 

I  never  wanted  but  your  heart — that  gone,  you  have 
nothing  more  to  give.  Forgive  me  then  if  I  say  that  I 
shall  consider  any  direct  or  indirect  attempt  to  supply 
my  necessities  as  an  insult  which  I  have  not  merited, 
and  as  done  rather  out  of  tenderness  for  your  own 
reputation  than  for  me. 

But  Mary  Wollstonecraft  was  too  fully  de- 
veloped a  human  being  to  brood  long  over  the 
sentimentalized  memory  of  an  emotional  experi- 
ence, however  intense  it  had  been.  Her  friendship 
with  William  Godwin  ripened  gradually  into  love, 
and  those  two  strangely  contrasted  temperaments 
found  happiness  together  in  a  married  life  the 
eccentricity  of  which  was  equalled  only  by  its 


And  the  English  Novel  251 

beauty.  Godwin  says  of  Mary:  "She  was  a 
worshipper  of  domestic  life,  and  possessed  in  an 
unparalleled  degree  the  art  of  communicating 
happiness."  It  seemed  that  she  had  at  last 
"found  peace."  She  was  still  a  young  woman — 
thirty-seven,  to  be  exact ,^ — and  the  best  of  her  life 
was  yet  before  her.  But  within  the  year  she  died 
in  giving  birth  to  the  daughter  who  bore  her  name 
— Shelley's  Mary  Wollstonecraft  Godwin. 

So  ends  the  life  of  which  the  novels  we  are  about 
to  consider  are  little  more  than  faint,  distorted 
reflections.  She,  who  saw  so  clearly,  has  left  us  a 
summing  up  of  herself  in  one  sentence,  the  full 
force  of  which  it  has  taken  us  a  century  to  realize : 

All  the  world  is  a  stage,  thought  I,  and  few  there  are 
in  it  who  do  not  play  the  part  they  have  learned  by 
rote;  and  those  who  do  not,  seem  marks  set  up  to  be 
pelted  at  by  fortune;  or  rather  sign  posts,  which  point 
out  the  road  to  others,  whilst  forced  to  stand  still 
themselves  amidst  the  mud  and  dust. 

The  fiction  Mary  Wollstonecraft  wrote  is  not 
large  in  amount;  two  frankly  tendenz  novels,  a 
fantastic  tale  called  The  Cave  of  Fancy,  and  a  book 
of  children's  stories,  moral  lessons  connected  by 
a  very  slight  thread  of  narrative,  with  which 
we  need  not  concern  ourselves  in  the  present 
discussion. 

The  first  of  her  novels  was  written  during  her 
life  as  a  governess,  in  1782.  Mary,  A  Fiction  is  not 
remarkable  as  a  literary  achievement,  although 


252  The  French  Revolution 

there  are  fine  passages  in  it,  and  some  spirited 
satire.  The  preface  is  interesting  as  an  expression 
of  the  author's  ideals  of  novel  writing.  She  prac- 
tically admits  the  strong  personal,  almost  auto- 
biographical element  in  her  work. 

Those  compositions  only  [she  writes],  have  power 
to  delight  and  carry  us  willing  captives  where  the 
soul  of  the  author  is  exhibited.  .  .  .  These  chosen  few 
wish  to  speak  for  themselves  and  not  be  an  echo — 
even  of  the  sweetest  sounds.  The  paradise  they 
ramble  in  must  be  of  their  own  creating. 

She  adds  a  demure  footnote:  "I  here  give  the 
reviewers  an  opportunity  of  being  very  witty  about 
the  Paradise  of  Fools. "  ^ 

G.  R.  Stirling  Taylor  says  of  this  novel: 

There  is  little  doubt  that  Mary  is  autobiographical. 
That  she  should  make  the  sick  friend  die  in  Lisbon 
is  an  obvious  reference  to  the  death  of  Fanny  Blood. 
But  these  resemblances  are  of  trivial  importance. 
The  chief  interest  Hes  in  the  fact  that  the  "Mary"  of 
the  tale  speaks  the  mind  of  Mary  the  author.  This 
close  link  between  the  story  and  the  author's  individu- 
ality is  marked  by  a  mass  of  cumulative  evidence; 
the  life  explains  the  story  and  the  story  the  life.  The 
author  says  of  her  heroine,  "  Her  mind  was  strong  and 
clear,  when  not  clouded  by  her  feelings,  but  she  was  too 
much  the  creature  of  impulse  and  the  slave  of  pity.  "^ 

The  Cave  of  Fancy,  A  Tale,  was  planned  at  the 

'  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  Mary,  preface,  p.  ii. 
^  Taylor,  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  p.  88. 


And  the  English  Novel  253 

same  time  as  Mary,  A  Fiction,  but  it  was  never 
finished,  appearing  only  among  her  posthtimous 
works.  It  is  far  inferior  to  the  two  novels  based 
upon  Mary's  own  life,  which  in  spite  of  all  their 
faults  in  literary  craftsmanship  are  not  without 
power.  The  facts  of  her  experience  and  the 
conclusions  she  drew  from  them  she  could  express 
with  vigour  and  directness.  But  when  she  relies 
upon  her  imagination  for  plot  and  incident  her 
weakness  becomes  apparent.  Short  as  The  Cave 
of  Fancy  is,  the  action  drags  and  the  didacticism 
is  wearisome. 

Even  so,  it  is  not  without  interest.  Mary  WoU- 
stonecraft  never  could  keep  her  own  personality 
out  of  anything  she  wrote ;  and  she  herself  has  been 
called  everything  from  an  "angel"  to  "a  hyena  in 
petticoats"  (Horace  Walpole's  little  tribute),  but 
never  a  bore. 

The  plan,  never  completed,  was  of  the  Arabian 
Nights  type ;  a  narrative  framework  for  a  group  of 
stories.  In  an  enchanted  cavern  dwells  a  very 
unplausible  sage  named  Sagestus.  A  shipwreck  at 
his  doors  devolves  upon  him  the  responsibility  of 
caring  for  and  educating  a  little  girl,  the  sole  siirvi- 
vor.  The  inference  is  that  the  child  is  very  fortu- 
nate in  the  prospect  of  an  education  so  directed, 
for  her  mother  was  of  the  type  of  woman  Mary 
Wollstonecraft  particularly  disliked:  "Not  having 
courage  to  form  an  opinion  of  her  own,  she  adhered 
with    blind   partiality   to    those    she   adopted."' 

'  Mary  Wollstonecraft,  Posthumous  Works,  vol.  iv.,  p.  123. 


254  The  French  Revolution 

Sagestus  conducts  the  education  of  the  child  by 
the  aid  of  spirits  summoned  to  the  cave,  who  tell 
her  the  stories  of  their  past  lives.  Only  one  of  these 
stories  was  written;  that  of  a  woman  in  whose  ex- 
periences one  traces  the  inevitable  resemblance 
to  those  of  the  author. 

The  last  and  unquestionably  the  best  of  Mary 
Wollstonecraft's  novels  exists  only  in  the  rough 
draft  left  unfinished  at  her  death.  It  is  for  our 
purpose  the  most  interesting  on  account  of  its 
doctrinary  character. 

It  is  hardly  fair  to  criticize  the  technique  of  an 
unfinished  work.  Certainly  in  its  present  form  the 
whole  seems  badly  constructed.  The  story  begins 
in  the  middle,  in  an  insane  asylum,  leaves  us  for 
several  chapters  in  utter  bewilderment,  and  then 
resorts  to  the  expedient  of  the  heroine's  diary  to 
explain  the  events  of  what  should  have  been  the 
first  two  volumes.  Horrors  are  piled  on  with 
Gothic  lavishness,  and  there  is  a  nightmarish  in- 
coherence due  to  continual  digressions. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  Mary  WoU- 
stonecraft  had  grasped  certain  principles  of  ten- 
denz  novel  writing  more  fully  than  any  of  the  other 
novelists  we  have  considered  so  far.  With  most  of 
them  the  "purpose"  appears  to  be  incidental. 
The  method  is  to  construct  a  plot  at  random,  and 
then  allow  the  characters  to  indulge  in  an  occa- 
sional political  or  philosophical  discussion.  The 
story  would  go  on  just  as  well  with  the  doctrinary 
passages  omitted.    Sometimes  a  preface  announces 


And  the  English  Novel  255 

the  purpose ;  and  one  feels  that  such  guidance  is  not 
superfluous.  In  Caleb  Williams,  for  instance,  the 
subject  announced  is  "Man  the  enemy  of  man." 
But^since  there  is  considerable  disagreement  among 
commentators  as  to  how  the  novel  illustrates  the 
moral,  and  even  as  to  what  the  moral  is,  it  is  clear 
that  Godwin  has  not  made  his  point  very  forcibly. 

Mary  Wollstonecraft,  on  the  contrary,  having 
decided  to  make  society  aware  by  means  of  a  novel, 
of  its  injustice  to  women,  goes  about  it  with  her 
characteristic  directness.  The  wrongs  she  has  in 
mind  are  no  mere  violations  of  abstract  principles 
of  political  justice.  She  confines  herself  to  such 
social  maladjustments  as  have  come  under  her 
personal  observation.  She  takes  Maria  —  any 
woman — places  her  in  a  perfectly  possible  situa- 
tion, and  brings  down  upon  her  a  series  of  calami- 
ties which  are  the  natural  consequences  of  the 
social,  legal,  and  economic  disabilities  which 
society  of  that  time  placed  upon  women.  There 
are  passages  that  preach,  of  course ;  there  are  whole 
chapters  of  special  pleading  introduced ;  but  always 
the  plot  is  the  main  argument. 

Maria  is  the  eldest  daughter  in  a  home  similar 
to  the  WoUstonecrafts'.  But  she  is  the  favourite 
of  a  wealthy  uncle  who  intends  to  leave  her  a 
fortune.  Seeing  that  her  home  life  is  intolerable, 
and  thinking  matrimony  the  only  refuge  for  a 
woman,  he  persuades  her  to  marry  a  young  man 
who  on  short  acquaintance  has  impressed  her 
favourably.     The  young  couple  go  to   London, 


256  The  French  Revolution 

where  George  proceeds  to  use  up  Maria's  dowry  in 
a  life  of  dissipation.  In  a  few  years  his  gambHng 
has  reduced  them  to  poverty,  and  his  character 
has  so  far  degenerated  that  he  alternately  neg- 
lects and  abuses  the  forlorn  young  wife,  whom  the 
death  of  her  uncle  has  left  without  a  friend  to 
protect  her.  When  her  husband  actually  attempts 
to  sell  her  to  a  lover  in  payment  of  a  gambling 
debt,  she  leaves  him.  Whereupon  she  discovers 
that  she  and  everything  she  owns  are  legally  the 
property  of  her  husband.  He  hiuits  her  from  one 
hiding-place  to  another,  with  the  aid  of  the  law. 
Finally  he  captures  her,  takes  her  child  from  her, 
and  imprisons  her  in  a  private  asylum.  There  she 
meets  a  man  whom  she  learns  to  love.  He  helps 
her  to  escape,  and  persuades  her  that  she  is  no 
longer  morally  bound  to  her  husband,  although 
she  cannot  obtain  a  divorce.  With  this  man  she  is 
happy,  until  her  husband  discovers  them,  insti- 
tutes divorce  proceedings  against  her,  and  secures 
the  imprisonment  and  trial  of  her  lover.  Here  the 
story  breaks  off,  leaving  only  a  few  scattered  notes 
to  indicate  the  tragic  ending  intended  by  the 
author. 

There  is  a  second  plot,  in  the  form  of  a  long 
digression,  to  illustrate  the  wrongs  of  a  woman  of  a 
lower  social  order.  It  is  the  story  of  the  woman 
attendant  at  the  asylum  who  helps  Maria  and  her 
lover  to  escape.  Jemima  was  a  foundling.  A 
wretchedly  abused  little  servant  maid,  she  was 
hterally  forced  when  scarcely  more  than  a  child  to 


And  the  English  Novel  257 

become  a  social  outcast.  Every  attempt  to  gain 
an  honest  living  being  thwarted  she  becomes  a 
hardened,  determined  criminal. 

How  often  have  I  heard  [she  says],  that  every  person 
willing  to  work  may  find  employment?  It  is  the 
vague  assertion,  I  believe,  of  insensible  ignorance  when 
it  relates  to  men ;  but  with  respect  to  women  I  am  sure 
of  its  fallacy,  unless  they  will  submit  to  the  most 
menial  bodily  labour ;  and  even  to  be  employed  at  hard 
labour  is  out  of  the  reach  of  many,  whose  reputation 
misfortune  or  foUy  has  tainted/ 

Such,  in  Mary  WoUstonecraft's  opinion,  were 
the  "wrongs  of  woman. "  The  book  has  behind  it 
the  force  of  conviction  growing  out  of  a  knowledge 
of  facts.  Mary  Wollstonecraft  had  no  illusions 
left  about  the  opportunities  life  offered  to  the 
average  middle-class  woman  of  her  time.  She  had 
had  intimate  knowledge  of  several  marriages  where 
the  good  home  bargained  for  was  by  no  means 
secured.  She  had  furthermore  learned  by  drastic 
experience  the  impossible  economic  conditions 
confronting  the  self-supporting  single  woman. 
Seamstress,  governess,  "companion";  these  prac- 
tically exhausted  the  list  of  gainfiil  occupations 
open  to  a  young  woman  without  any  special  talent. 
Even  Elizabeth  Inchbald,  for  all  her  ability,  found 
marriage  a  necessity.  It  required  the  indomitable 
courage  of  a  Mary  Wollstonecraft  to  gain  even  the 

'  Maxy  Wollstonecraft,  Posthumous  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  112. 

17 


258  The  French  Revolution 

most  modest  economic  independence,  a  century 
ago. 

There  are  two  novels  written  by  her  friends  in 
which  under  a  thin  disguise  Mary  figures  as  the 
heroine:  Godwin's  St.  Leon  and  Mrs.  Opie's 
Adelina  Mowbray.  Both  we  shall  consider  in 
detail  elsewhere.  There  is  little  likeness  to  the 
Mary  we  know  in  St.  Leon's  Margaret  except- 
ing a  certain  strength  and  dignity  under  misfor- 
tune. But  Mrs.  Opie  has  virtually  written  a 
biography  of  Mary  WoUstonecraft  during  certain 
years  of  her  life,  with  details  changed.  In  Ade- 
lina she  has  caught  some  of  the  charm  of  Mary's 
personality,  and  does  fiill  justice  to  the  essential 
purity  and  nobility  of  her  character,  while  pointing 
out  the  fallacy  of  some  of  her  opinions.  Mary's 
deep  and  sincere  religious  belief  is  emphasized  with 
great  effectiveness.  But  Mrs.  Opie's  zeal  for  draw- 
ing a  moral  makes  her  Adelina  a  much  more  limited 
personality  than  the  original.  Mary  was  never 
crushed  by  the  verdict  of  society,  and  her  marriage 
with  Godwin  was  hardly  a  recantation.  She  never 
attacked  marriage  in  theory;  only  the  intolerable 
marriage  laws  of  her  time.  In  any  case,  Mary 
WoUstonecraft 's  views  on  marriage  were  a  very 
unimportant  part  of  her  contention  for  the  right 
of  women  to  human  dignity  and  economic  inde- 
pendence, and  the  emphasis  given  to  this  phase  of 
her  life  is  justified  only  in  a  work  of  pure  fiction 
like  Adelina  Mowbray. 


And  the  English  Novel  259 

SECTION   3:   SOME  OTHER  "RIGHTS   OF  WOMEN" 
NOVELS 

Perhaps  the  earHest  novel  in  our  period  dealing 
with  the  woman  question  is  a  rather  stupid  narra- 
tive sermon  by  "Prudentia  Homespun"  (Mrs. 
West),  entitled  The  Advantages  of  Education,  or, 
The  History  of  Maria  Williams  (1793).  This  is 
merely  a  plea  for  fewer  "accomplishments"  and 
more  solid  domestic  virtues  in  young  ladies  of 
the  day,  and  has  little  connection  with  the  new 
tendencies. 

In  the  closing  years  of  the  century  appeared  a 
curious  book  by  James  Lawrence,  The  Empire  of 
the  Nairs,  or  The  Rights  of  Women.  An  Utopian 
Romance.  This  was  suppressed  in  England,  but 
immediately  appeared  in  France.  The  plot  is 
fully  outlined  in  the  Revue  des  Romans,  and  a  num- 
ber of  quotations  from  it  are  available. '  It  is 
difficult,  of  course,  to  determine  without  reading 
the  book  the  nature  of  the  author's  purpose.  It  is 
incredible  that  this  Utopia  should  be  the  expression 
of  a  serious  opinion.  Possibly  it  may  be  a  satire 
on  the  theories  of  Godwin  and  Rousseau,  after  the 
manner  of  Swift.  But  the  extreme  indecorum  of 
the  method  employed  casts  suspicion  upon  the 
sincerity  of  any  "purpose"  the  author  may  have 
professed,  other  than  that  of  gaining  a  certain 
notoriety.     There  is  a  curious  note  on  the  Nairs 

'  Gerauld  de  Saint-Fargeau,  Revue  des  Romans  (1839),  vol.  ii., 
p.  42. 


26o  The  French  Revolution 

in  Robert  and  Adela  which  seems  to  indicate  that 
this  was  mistaken  for  a  serious  account  of  a  real 
nation. ' 

To  counteract  the  dangerous  vogue  of  ^  Vindica- 
tion of  the  Rights  of  Woman,  there  was  pubHshed,  in 
1795,  Robert  and  Adela,  or,  The  Rights  of  Women 
best  Maintained  by  the  Sentiments  oj  Nature.  Al- 
though it  is  anonymous,  one  is  quite  sure  from  the 
style  that  the  writer  was  a  woman.  Like  most 
novels  in  letter  form  it  has  a  variety  of  sub-plots, 
but  we  need  concern  ourselves  only  with  the  main 
narrative.  The  principal  characters  are  young 
Lord  Landsford  and  his  two  sisters.  Lady  Sabina 
is  happily  married;  her  function  in  the  novel  is 
obviously  to  represent  the  ideal  of  feminine  virtue 
and  wifely  docility.  The  younger  sister.  Lady 
Susan,  is  a  young  woman  of  great  beauty  and 
intelligence;  but  she  has  been  educated  by  her 
grandmother,  who  was  one  of  the  regrettably  in- 
creasing number  of  women  corrupted  by  the  new 
ideas  of  independence  and  equaHty  with  men. 
However,  since  this  eccentric  old  lady  has  left 
Susan  a  considerable  fortune  as  well  as  a  stock  of 
detrimental  ideas.  Lord  Landsford  is  not  without 
hopes  of  finding  a  good  match  for  her.  He  has  in 
mind  a  friend  of  his.  Count  Robert  de  Montfort, 
an  emigre.  Susan  is  pleased  with  the  Count,  but 
is  in  no  hurry  to  marry  and  give  up  her  cherished 
independence.  From  this  point  the  novel  is  an 
account  of  Susan's  outrageous  opinions  and  con- 

'  Robert  and  Adela,  vol.  ii.,  p.  95. 


And  the  English  Novel  261 

duct  and  the  remonstrances  of  her  brother  and 
sister.  Sometimes  the  effect  is  a  Httle  lost  upon  a 
modern  reader;  one  forgets  to  be  shocked  when  a 
young  woman  says,  for  instance,  that  she  wishes 
she  could  play  cricket.  Susan's  most  serious  es- 
capade, however,  is  not  without  interest.  She 
visits  the  House  of  Commons  (from  which  women 
were  excluded),  disguised  as  a  yoimg  officer;  a 
footnote  explains  that  this  was  actually  done  by 
Lady  Wallace  and  "some  other  spirited  ladies  who 
had  a  mind  to  gratify  their  curiosity. " 

Lady  Susan  has  many  admirers  besides  the 
Count,  all  of  whom  she  teases  unmercifully.  But 
she  obstinately  refuses  to  marry. 

To  sit  down  tamely  and  own  a  master — Oh  the 
horrid  idea!  [she  writes,  and  adds,  lest  there  be  any 
doubt  as  to  the  source  of  her  theories],  That  dear  Mrs. 
What-do-ye-call-her,  who  has  asserted  the  rights  of 
our  sex!  How  I  adore  her!  Would  she  ever  suffer 
herself  to  be  sunk  into  a  tame  domestic  animal  ?  No ! 
No  I  She  knows  and  will  maintain  the  dignity  of  the 
sex,  which  she  has  raised  to  the  level  with  that  of  man ! 
She  hardly  allows  the  men  to  take  the  lead  in  any- 
thing!' 

Lord  Landsford  warns  her : 

Believe  me,  masculine  manners  are  not  calculated  to 
attract  our  sex,  which  I  cannot  but  think,  after  all 
your  declarations,  is  your  intention.  'Tis  singularity 
you  aim  at,  and  that  affectation,  of  all  others  is  most 

'  Robert  and  Adela,  vol.  i.,  p.  ii8. 


262  The  French  Revolution 

pernicious  and  dangerous  to  women.  Your  rights  are 
established  when  you  properly  perform  the  duties  of  a 
wife  and  mother.^ 

The  letters  of  Lady  Sabina  are  of  especial  in- 
terest as  giving  the  author's  own  opinion  on  the 
whole  question,  in  the  person  of  the  ideal  woman. 

I  know  that  you  can  easily  foil  me  in  argument  on 
any  subject.  I  have  little  more  to  urge  than  the  senti- 
ments of  a  female  heart  against  that  lofty  way  of 
thinking,  in  which  I  suspect,  from  your  frequent  use 
of  certain  phrases  and  sentiments,  you  have  been 
confirmed  by  Mrs.  Woolstone  Croft's  Vindication  of 
the  Rights  of  Woman.  You  insist  on  an  equality  of 
rights  and  privileges — I  cannot  understand,  perfectly, 
what  you  mean ;  for  to  be  in  all  respects  on  a  footing  of 
equality  with  the  men  seems  to  me  to  be  impossible. 
How  can  the  infirmities  and  tender  cares  to  which 
women  are  doomed,  by  the  constitution  of  their  nature, 
accord  with  the  agitation  of  public  assemblies  ?  .  .  .  I 
am  persuaded  Mrs.  Woolstone  Croft  would  never  have 
dreamed  of  writing  such  a  book  about  the  rights  of 
women  if  she  had  been  a  happy  wife  and  mother ;  .  .  . 
the  true  glory  as  well  as  the  true  happiness  of  women 
consists  in  the  exercise,  not  of  the  heroic,  but  of  the 
amiable  virtues.  [Praise  of  meekness  and  patience.] 
Patience,  as  Rousseau  observes,  even  under  a  hus- 
band's injustice.  Such  gentleness  of  manners  is  in  fact 
the  best  armour  in  which  the  delicacy  of  the  female 
frame  can  be  clothed;  for  women  are  committed  by 
Providence  to  the  care  of  fathers,  brothers,  husbands, 

'  Robert  and  Adela,  vol.  ii.,  p.  182. 


And  the  English  Novel  263 

and  other  relatives.  Usually  an  amiable  woman  has 
her  full  share  of  sway,  and  in  politics,  too,  it  is  well 
known  that  women  have  power  without  the  formality 
of  constitutional  votes.  .  .  .  We  should  always  com- 
ply with  the  prevailing  system,  to  deviate  may  incur 
censure,  which  every  female  should  studiously  avoid.  ^ 

Lady  Susan  is  quite  unaffected  by  all  this  ad- 
monition. Her  brother  in  despair  pronounces  her 
"unworthy  the  serious  attention  of  any  man  of 
sense."  The  Count  accordingly  turns  his  atten- 
tion to  her  younger  sister,  who  very  opportunely 
emerges  from  a  convent  school  because  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  plot  require  an  unmarried  Sabina. 
Susan,  in  a  pique,  marries  the  next  man  who  offers 
himself,  giving  as  her  reason  "that  she  may  have 
something  to  torment."  As  she  neglected  to 
seciire  a  settlement,  her  husband  makes  away  with 
her  property,  and  beats  her.  She  finally  leaves 
him,  recants  her  errors,  and  devotes  the  remainder 
of  her  life  to  philanthropy,  "on  all  occasions  in- 
culcating the  maxim  that  an  amiable  female 
gains  everything  by  assuming  nothing :  and  that  the 
rights  of  women  are  best  maintained  by  the  senti- 
ments of  nature/''' 

So  ends  the  career  of  Susan  as  an  awful  warning. 
The  Rousseauistic  moral  is  quite  clear;  although 
one  is  tempted  to  observe  that  Susan's  troubles 
begin  only  when  she  gives  up  her  principles  by 

'  Robert  and  Adela,  vol.  i.,  pp.  179-85. 
'  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  310. 


264  The  French  Revolution 

marrying.  There  is  an  obvious  effort  at  fairness. 
The  heroine  is  made  very  attractive,  and  at  times  is 
allowed  to  express  her  theories  with  considerable 
eloquence.  The  author  has  caught  Mary  WoU- 
stonecraft's  favourite  phrases  (even  though  she 
could  not  spell  the  name),  and  uses  them  in  very 
clever  satire.  But  one  cannot  feel  that  there  is 
much  real  connexion  between  the  type  of  ideas 
represented  by  this  wealthy  and  aristocratic 
coquette,  to  whom  social  independence  is  a  ca- 
price, and  those  of  the  struggling  girl  hack-writer, 
to  whom  economic  independence  was  a  grim 
necessity. 

There  are  some  interesting  discussions  of  politi- 
cal matters  in  the  course  of  the  novel.  Writing 
from  an  orthodox  Whig  point  of  view  the  author 
contrasts  France,  "that  land  of  anarchy,"  with 
"this  happy  island  of  regulated  liberty;  for  so  it  is, 
whatever  men  may  preach  against  it.  From  the 
abuses  which,  in  the  course  of  years,  have  crept 
into  all  states,  Britain  is  not  exempt.  But  I  cannot 
conceive,  because  a  few  repairs  are  necessary,  that 
the  building  should  be  razed  to  the  ground."^ 
The  landed  gentry  are  regarded  as  the  mainstay 
of  the  nation.    Landsford  says : 

To  live  at  home  as  our  ancestors  used  to,  should  be 
the  aim  of  our  nobility.  It  was  crowding  to  the  court 
and  neglecting  everything  for  the  smile  of  a  prince 
that  brought  France  into  that  horrid  anarchy  and 
convulsion  in  which  it  now  labours. 
'  Robert  and  Adela,  vol.  i.,  p.  9. 


And  the  English  Novel  265 

He  refuses  to  follow  the  general  tendency  to  raise 
the  rents  of  his  tenantry.  ^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  author  is  no  blind  de- 
fender of  the  principle  of  hereditary  aristocracy. 
She  writes  with  what  was,  for  that  time,  consider- 
able boldness : 

The  high  pride  of  families  I  begin  to  think  somewhat 
absurd,  having  witnessed  so  many  virtues  and  such  a 
fund  of  genius  in  the  lower  orders  of  society  that  more 
than  make  up  for  the  mere  adventitious  circumstance 
of  birth.  Superior  intellect  surely  is  more  than  equal 
to  any  title  that  is  dependent  on  the  breath  of  kings.  ^ 

A  later  novel,  distinctly  Tory  in  its  political 
point  of  view,  offers  a  fair  sample  of  what  were 
considered  really  advanced  ideas  on  the  woman 
question  during  the  period  of  conservative  Reac- 
tion. Blue  Stocking  Hall  (1827)  ^  is  written  to 
defend  the  thesis  that  a  young  lady  need  not  be 
entirely  uneducated  in  order  to  be  attractive. 
The  author  in  his  preface  avows  himself  a  recent 
convert  to  this  radical  doctrine.  The  plot  is  simple. 
Mrs.  Douglas  and  her  three  daughters  live  quietly 
on  their  country  estate  in  Ireland,  devoted  to 
philanthropy,  religion,  and  studious  pursuits  under 
the  guidance  of  a  tutor  of  remarkable  attainments. 

■  Cf .  The  Magic  of  Wealth. 

^Robert  and  Adela,  vol.  i.,  p.  24. 

3  Blue  Stocking  Hall  is  attributed  to  William  Scargill,  and  also 
to  Mrs.  Jane  Webb,  in  the  Boston  Public  Library  catalogue; 
but  no  author  is  given  in  the  book  itself. 


266  The  French  Revolution 

The  girls  study  Latin,  Greek,  modern  literature, 
mathematics,  and  a  little  botany.  Young  Frank 
Howard,  Mrs.  Douglas's  nephew,  visits  them.  He 
has  heard  that  his  cousins  are  "learned  ladies" 
and  intends  to  give  his  aunt  a  warning  of  the  error 
of  her  course. 

Men  of  the  present  day  dread  a  "blue"  more  than  a 
scorpion;  which  argument  I  believe,  never  fails  with  a 
mama.  To  be  sure,  they  cannot  unlearn  all  that  old 
dominie  has  crammed  into  their  noddles,  but  if  they 
are  frightened  into  careful  concealment  there  is  not 
much  harm  done.^ 

Of  course  he  finds  his  cousins  charming  girls,  not  at 
all  inclined  to  pose.  His  prejudices  are  shaken. 
The  second  and  third  volumes  are  devoted  to  the 
progress  of  his  conversion,  and  the  long  arguments 
of  Mrs.  Douglas  in  favour  of  the  education  of 
young  ladies.  She  hastens  to  admit  that:  "The 
great  object  to  which  a  girl's  prospects  should  tend 
from  infancy  to  maturity  is  marriage,"  and  that 
she  "prizes  one  unselfish  movement  of  the  heart 
above  all  the  intellect  that  ever  adorned  the 
greatest  philosophers. "  But  the  prejudice  against 
learned  ladies  is,  she  thinks,  without  foundation. 
It  is  only  a  little  learning  that  is  dangerous 
to  feminine  docility.  Real  learning  tends  to 
humility.  Social  intercourse  and  marriage  will 
gain  equally  when  ladies  are  permitted  to  acquire 
more  culture.    Finally,  she  enters  into  an  elaborate 

'  Blue  Stocking  Hall,  vol.  i.,  p.  30. 


And  the  English  Novel  267 

argument  to  prove  that  the  education  of  women  is 
neither  expHcitly  nor  implicitly  forbidden  in  the 
Scriptures.  ^ 

Mrs.  Douglas  carefully  disavows  any  sympathy 
with   the    Vindication   of  the  Rights  of  Woman- 

A  book  [she  says],  which  long  ago  found  its  resting 
place  amidst  dust  and  cobwebs.  The  French  Revolu- 
tion set  many  heads  distracted  and  loosened  the  whole 
framework  of  our  morals,  but  we  are  sobered,  and  have 
consigned  to  oblivion  the  grosser  absurdities  of  that 
disjointed  period.^ 

There  is  a  secondary  discussion  running  through 
the  book  which  is  very  significant.  Education,  the 
author  insists,  is  only  for  the  upper  classes.  "The 
accomplishment  of  reading,  considered  without 
reference  to  religious  instruction,  is  about  as  neces- 
sary and  suitable  to  a  poor  labouring  man  as  a 
gold  snuff  box  would  be.  "^  Reading  of  the  Bible 
might  be  allowed,  but :  "The ethics  of  Mr.  Cobbett 
and  the  religion  of  Mr,  Carlile  are  better  kept  from 
the  poor. " ''  "  The  will  of  God  has  made  inequality 
the  very  essence  of  every  social  system.    No  spread 

'  Blue  Stocking  Hall,  vol.  i.,  p.  218.  Contrast  Mary  Wollstone- 
craft's  vigorous  treatment  of  this  time-worn  argument,  in  chapter 
V.  of  the  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Woman.  "Were  an  angel 
from  heaven  to  tell  me  that  the  account  of  the  Fall  of  Man  were 
literally  true,  I  could  not  believe  what  my  reason  told  me  was 
derogatory  to  the  character  of  the  Supreme  Being." 

'Blue  Stocking  Hall,  vol.  i.,  p.  222. 

^  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  138. 

*  Ibid.,  vol.  i.,  p.  150. 


268  The  French  Revolution 

of  knowledge  can  improve  the  lot  of  him  who  must 
till  the  soil  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow. "  ^ 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  author's  antipathy 
to  the  poems  of  Byron.  Mrs.  Douglas  will  not 
allow  a  copy  of  Don  Juan  in  her  library;  she  de- 
clares "Byron,  like  Milton's  Satan,  stands  pre- 
eminent at  the  head  of  all  mischief  makers  of  the 
present  time. "  ^  ^ 

Such  were  three  typical  novels  of  the  "  Rights  of 
Women."  The  Wrongs  of  Woman  expresses  the 
spirit  of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  in  terms 
coloured  by  the  philosophies  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. It  speaks  for  the  women  the  Sentimentalists 
ignored ;  the  women  not  provided  with  comfortable 
fortunes  or  affectionate  male  relatives  eager  to 
support  them  in  idleness.  These  were  the  women 
who,  finding  that  the  old  ideals  had  no  cognizance 
of  them  or  of  the  economic  conditions  that  pro- 
duced them,  were  demanding  a  new  and  nobler 
ideal. 

The  Rights  of  Woman  Best  Maintained  by  the 
Sentiments  of  Nature  is  a  contemporary  protest  of 
the  older  Sentimentalists,  re-enforced  by  Rousseau- 
ism,  against  these  grimly  iconoclastic  women  of  the 
great  Revolutions.  Not  unfair  in  its  criticism,  not 
unkindly  in  its  satire,  but  not  quite  comprehend- 

^  Blue  Stocking  Hall,  vol.  i.,  p.  154. 

» Ibid.,  p.  279. 

3  Zeluca:  or,  Educated  and  Uneducated  Women  (18 15)  may  be 
an  earlier  treatment  of  the  same  subject,  but  it  is  unfortunately 
not  accessible. 


And  the  English  Novel  269 

ing  because  aware  only  of  the  comfortably  wealthy 
classes, — this  is  the  generous  and  dignified  com- 
ment of  the  older  ideal  upon  the  newer. 

Last  of  all,  in  an  age  when  the  idealisms  of  the 
Revolution  are  dead,  Blue  Stocking  Hall  is  the 
contribution  of  the  Reaction  at  its  worst.  Mary 
Wollstonecraft's  noble  and  eloquent  demand  for  a 
higher  ideal  and  the  right  to  work  has  dwindled 
into  a  simpering  plea  that  "young  ladies,"  for- 
sooth, be  no  longer  forbidden  to  dabble  in  Latin 
and  Greek.  Mary  Astell  had  asked  as  much  a 
hundred  years  before.  But  an  age  so  complacent 
in  accepting  poverty  and  ignorance  as  the  divinely 
ordained  lot  of  the  working-man,  is  not  an  age  to 
err  through  over-enthusiastic  advocacy  of  fantastic 
"Rights  of  Woman." 


CHAPTER   VIII 

SOME    OTHER    FORMS    OF    LITERATURE 

AFFECTED  BY  THE  FRENCH 

REVOLUTION 

SECTION    I  :   THE   POETS 

The  French  Revolution  and  the  English  Poets. 

The  influence  of  the  French  Revolution  upon  the 
poetry  of  the  time  has  been  fully  discussed  in  at 
least  three  most  admirable  books  devoted  pri- 
marily to  that  subject. '  It  would  be  out  of  place 
here  to  attempt  to  do  more  than  recall  briefly  some 
of  the  conclusions  reached  in  these  comprehensive 
treatments. 

The  poets  whose  works  reflect  the  ideals  of  the 
Revolution  fall  into  three  distinct  groups,  in  order 
of  time.  I.  There  are  the  precursors  of  Revolu- 
tion :  certain  poets  whose  works,  considered  in  the 
light  of  later  developments,  seem  to  foreshadow  the 

'  Dr.  A.  E.  Hancock,  The  French  Revolution  and  the  English 
Poets;  Professor  Edward  Dowden,  The  French  Revolution  and 
English  Literature;  and  Dr.  Charles  Cestre,  La  Revolution  et  les 
Poetes  Anglais  (1709-1809).  To  which  may  be  added  the  first 
two  chapters  of  Professor  Dowden's  Studies  in  Literature  from 
178Q  to  1877. 

270 


The  English  Novel  271 

coming  philosophies,  although  in  truth  they  are  lit- 
tle more  than  humanitarians  and  Sentimentalists, 
with  the  correct  Whig  principles  in  politics.  Of 
these  poets  Cowper  and  Crabbe  are  representative. 
2.  During  the  actual  period  of  the  Revolution, 
the  currents  of  popular  feeling  were  reflected  in  the 
minds  of  the  so-called  Lake  Poets,  Wordsworth, 
Coleridge,  and  Southey.  To  these  may  be  added 
two  independent  writers.  Burns  and  Blake.  3. 
Finally,  after  the  close  of  the  true  Revolutionary 
period,  during  the  later  Napoleonic  wars  and  the 
period  of  Reaction,  come  the  poets  of  the  after- 
glow; Byron  and  Shelley,  and  their  lesser  con- 
temporaries, Moore,  Leigh  Hunt,  and  Landor. ' 

William  Cowper  was,  according  to  Professor 
Dowden,  "undesignedly  and  unawares,  the  chief 
representative  of  Revolutionary  sentiment  in  the 
days  before  the  Revolution."^  Cowper  was  an 
orthodox  Whig  in  politics  and  an  ardent  Evangeli- 
cal in  his  religion.  ^     Although  the  denunciation  of 

'  Professor  Dowden  discusses  the  work  of  all  these  poets,  in  the 
order  given,  adding  various  other  works  (many  of  which  we  have 
already  considered  in  Chapter  II).  Dr.  Cestre  confines  himself  to 
the  poets  of  the  Revolution  proper,  considering  the  work  of 
Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  and  Southey  in  great  detail,  and  adding 
an  excellent  chapter  on  Burns  and  Blake.  Dr.  Hancock  selects 
four  poets  as  representative;  Shelley,  Byron,  Wordsworth,  and 
Coleridge.  These  he  discusses  in  the  order  named,  with  the 
addition  of  a  chapter  on  Godwin  and  another  on  the  French 
philosophers. 

^  Dowden,  French  Revolution  and  English  Literature,  p.  30. 

3  On  this  point  Professor  Dowden  makes  an  observation  signi- 
ficant in  connection  with  the  relation  which  we  have  traced 


2']2  The  French  Revolution 

luxury  and  certain  other  markedly  Rousseauistic 
elements  find  place  in  his  verse,  "it  was  less  by 
virtue  of  his  ardour  in  behalf  of  political  liberty, 
genuine  as  it  was,  than  by  his  feeling  for  simplifica- 
tion and  his  humanitarian  sentiment  that  Cowper 
belongs  to  the  Revolution."'  When  the  Bastile 
fell,  Cowper  was  an  old  man;  his  period  of  original 
writing  was  over;  and  the  new  hopes  of  the  time 
found  him  apparently  apathetic. 

Cowper's  younger  contemporary,  Crabbe, 
touches  the  theories  of  the  Revolution  only  on  its 
humanitarian  side.  But  of  the  facts  that  lay 
below  the  surface  of  the  movement,  the  terrible  by- 
products of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  he  wrote 
with  a  grim  realism  unrelieved  by  any  Utopian 
visionings  for  the  future. 

The  earliest  of  the  true  Revolutionists  was  Burns, 
the  poet  of  Equality.  Remote  from  the  sphere  of 
Pure  Reason  philosophies  and  of  Sentimentalism, 
from  the  very  life  of  the  time  his  poetry  "sounds 
the  note  for  the  revolt  of  the  proletariat."^  Pro- 
fessor Dowden  adds: 

So  long  as  the  Revolution  retained  a  philosophic 
and  doctrinaire  aspect,  it  left  Burns  almost  untouched. 

between  the  Revolutionists  and  certain  forms  of  dissent;  "The 
gospel  of  Rousseau  is  translated  by  Cowper  into  the  gospel 
according  to  St.  Paul.  The  combination  is  a  curious  and  interest- 
ing one  for  literary  study,  of  the  sentiment  of  the  Revolution 
with  the  faith  and  fervor  of  the  Evangelical  revival"  (p.  41). 

'  Dowden,  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  30. 

*  Ihid.,  etc.,  p.  140. 


And  the  English  Novel  273 

It  is  only  when  the  Revolution  became  violent,  tragic, 
and  essentially  a  movement  of  the  popular  masses, 
when  it  ceased  to  be  a  declaration  of  abstract  prin- 
ciples and  passed  into  a  conflict  of  the  passions  that 
Burns  was  deeply  moved.  ^ 

His  Revolutionism  expressed  itself  in  songs  passion- 
ate and  satiric,  and  in  several  escapades  which 
sorely  endangered  his  livelihood  as  an  exciseman. 
For  Bums  was  a  true  proletarian  in  this  also,  that 
he  was  often  forced  into  submission  for  bread  and 
butter  reasons  when  below  his  surface  docility  the 
fires  of  revolt  still  burned. 

Another  poet  somewhat  out  of  the  main  current 
of  Revolutionary  philosophy  was  William  Blake. 
In  1 791,  Blake  was  employed  by  Joseph  Johnson  to 
illustrate  Mary  Wollstonecraft's  Original  Stories. 
This  brought  him  in  contact  with  the  little  group 
of  radical  writers  that  gathered  at  Johnson's 
weekly  dinners:  Paine,  Home  Tooke,  Godwin, 
Holcroft,  and  the  rest.  Under  this  stimulus  Blake 
published  a  poem  on  the  Revolution,  now  lost. 
But  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  either  the  philo- 
sophies of  the  Johnson  circle  or  the  social  unrests 
of  the  time  ever  really  penetrated  the  conscious- 
ness of  Blake.  Reason  and  sense  of  fact  were  alike 
subordinated  to  his  glorious  but  undisciplined 
imagination.  It  is  the  Revolution  as  a  spiritual 
entity,  an  eternal,  archetypal  Revolution  quite 
distinct  from  the  actual  political  phenomena,  that 

'  DowJen,  French  Revolution,  cLc,  p.  146. 
18 


274  The  French  Revolution 

lives  in  the  Marriage  of  Heaven  and  Hell  and  the 
Song  of  Liberty,  and  whose  failure  cast  a  shadow 
over  the  Songs  of  Experience.  Dr.  Cestre  says  of 
him: 

Dans  I'isolement  moral  oxi.  il  se  complait,  entour^  de 
belles  fictions  et  de  douces  Amotions,  la  Revolution 
frangaise  ne  I'atteint  que  sous  une  forme,  pour  ainsi 
dire,  g^n^ralis^e.  II  ne  connait  ni  ses  doctrines 
philosophiques,  ni  ses  revendications  politiques.  II 
comprend  seulement  qu'une  souffle  puissant  d'es- 
p^rance  et  de  justice  traverse  la  terre.  II  croit  a  une 
renovation  prochaine  et  complete  de  cette  soci^t^, 
pour  laquelle  il  a  une  repulsion  instinctive.  II  voit, 
dans  la  Revolution,  un  ev6nement  voulu  par  Dieu 
pour  ramener  ici-bas  la  vertu  et  le  bonheur.  Le 
monde  id^al  des  Songs  of  Innocence  va  se  r^aliser.  ^ 

Wordsworth's  Revolutionism  resembles  that  of 
Blake  in  one  respect  at  least;  he  had  little  or  no 
grasp  of  the  real  social  and  economic  forces  at 
work,  and  his  mind  was  ill  at  ease  in  an  atmo- 
sphere of  pure  reason.  An  account  of  his  relation 
to  the  Revolutionary  movement  must  concern 
itself  primarily  with  his  subjective  experiences.  To 
summarize  briefly  Dr.  Hancock's  chapters:  the 
French  Revolution  served  to  humanize  Words- 
worth. In  his  early  life  the  love  of  nature  was  his 
absorbing  interest.  His  mind  was  extraordinarily 
sensitive  and  receptive;  possessing,  moreover,  a 
"clairvoyant  quality,"  a  sense  of  "plastic  power" 
informing  the  visible  world. 

'  Cestre,  La  RSvolution  et  les  PoUes  Anglais,  p.  210. 


And  the  English  Novel  275 

He  acqmred  a  faith  in  the  existence  of  the  things  of 
the  spirit,  and  in  a  Supreme  Being  who  revealed  by 
gleams  the  highest  truths,  and  further,  a  faith  in  the 
mind  itself  as  an  active  and  creative  thing,  adding  to 
experience  contributions  of  its  own.* 

In  1790  and  again  in  1791,  Wordsworth  went  to 
France,  but  felt  only  a  perfunctory  interest  in  the 
political  drama  that  was  acting  there.  His  friend- 
ship with  the  enthusiastic  young  republican  Beau- 
puis  awakened  in  him  a  like  Revolutionary  ardour, 
based,  however,  upon  sympathy  rather  than  under- 
standing. On  his  rettim  to  England  Wordsworth 
avowed  himself  a  Revolutionist,  remaining  im- 
shaken  by  England's  declaration  of  war  in  1793, 
and  even  extenuating  the  violence  of  the  Terror.  * 

This  emotional  enthusiasm  lasted  until  1796, 
when  it  became  apparent  that  France  had  entered 
upon  a  campaign  of  conquest.  At  this  point, 
"bereft  of  the  support  of  his  feelings,  he  began 
to  rationalize,"  imder  the  influence  of  Godwin. ^ 
The  result  was  disastrous  to  his  earlier 
transcendentalism. 

Hume  showed  that  if  there  was  no  more  in  experi- 
ence than  Locke's  view  permitted  it  to  contain,  then 
the  hope  of  any  transcendent  knowledge  or  faith  for 
humanity  was  indeed  gone."* 

*  Hancock,  The  French  Revolution  and  the  English  Poets,  p.  129. 
'Ibid.,  p.  136. 

3  In  his  Letter  to  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff. 

♦  Professor  Royce,  quoted  by  Hancock,  p.  139. 


276  The  French  Revolution 

To  a  mind  like  Wordsworth's  the  loss  of  a  super- 
rational  belief  was  agony.  The  Borderers  marks  the 
point  at  which  he  rebels  against  the  tyranny  of 
Pure  Reason.'  "It  is  a  reductio  ad  absurdum  of 
the  doctrine  that  the  individual  intellect  should  be 
the  sole  guide  of  conduct."^  Wordsworth  re- 
turned to  the  lake  country  that  he  loved,  and  there 
foimd  peace  once  more  in  commimion  with  nature, 
building  up  for  himself  an  almost  mystical  inter- 
pretation of  life;  that  "the  sensitive,  receptive,  and 
creative  mind  obtains  through  nature's  manifold 
forms  the  intimation  of  transcendent  truths." 
Dr.  Hancock  concludes: 

The  French  Revolution  as  a  reform  humanized 
Wordsworth,  but  its  philosophy  threatened  to  in- 
validate his  earlier  experiences;  it  served,  through  his 
reaction  against  it,  to  stimulate  his  constructive 
power,  and  it  was  the  indirect  cause  of  his  latter  con- 
servatism and  faith. 3 

Like  Wordsworth,  Coleridge  was  temperament- 
ally antipathetic  to  the  materialistic  and  atheistic 
elements  in  Revolutionism.  His  individualism 
was  transcendental  rather  than  sceptical.    Never- 

'  The  Borderers,  written  in  1797. 

*  Hancock,  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  141. 

3  Ibid.,  etc.,  p.  122.  Professor  Dowden,  in  his  Studies  in  Liter- 
ature (chapter  i.),  gives  a  very  illuminating  discussion  of  Word- 
worth's  relation  to  the  nineteenth-century  Transcendental 
movement.  This,  however,  hardly  falls  within  the  scope  of  our 
subject,  excepting  as  it  illustrates  the  subsequent  metamorphoses 
of  Revolutionary  Sentimental  Individualism. 


And  the  English  Novel  277 

theless,  he  too  was  attracted  for  a  time  by  the 
finer  significances  of  the  Revolution.  He  greeted 
the  fall  of  the  Bastile  with  an  ode.  In  1793,  he  de- 
nounced the  coalition  against  France  and  satirized 
the  use  of  Christianity  as  a  pretext  for  violence. 
In  1794,  he  contributed  to  the  radical  Morning 
Chronicle  a  series  of  sonnets  in  praise  of  the  Revolu- 
tionary leaders.  The  Religious  Musings,  in  the 
same  year,  show  strong  influences  of  Rousseau  and 
Godwin.  But  Coleridge  was  always  discriminating 
in  his  acceptance  of  Godwin.  In  1794,  he  wrote  of 
him: 

Godwin  appeared  to  me  to  possess  neither  the 
strength  of  intellect  that  discovers  truth  nor  the 
powers  of  imagination  that  decorate  falsehood.  He 
talked  sophisms  in  jejune  language.  I  like  Holcroft 
a  thousand  times  better,  and  consider  him  a  man  of 
much  greater  ability.^ 

By  1795  Coleridge  was  bitterly  opposed  to 
Godwin,  attacking  his  philosophy  in  the  Bristol 
Lectures  affd  in  the  Watchman,  and  withdrawing  all 
his  former  praises.  In  the  Bristol  Lectures'"  Cole- 
ridge distinguishes  clearly  between  Revolution  in 
the  abstract  and  the  concrete  political  phenomena 
in  France.  He  divides  the  "opponents  of  things 
as  they  are"  into  four  classes: 

'  Hancock,  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  169.  This  estimate  is  of 
interest,  in  connection  with  the  pre-eminence  we  have  given  to 
Holcroft  in  our  discussion  of  the  novel. 

^Delivered  in  1795.  Afterward  printed  under  the  title  Con- 
dones ad  Populum. 


278  The  French  Revolution 

First,  men  unaccustomed  to  thorough  investigation, 
whose  minds  are  excited  by  flagrant  evils,  and  who  give 
an  indolent  vote  in  favour  of  reform.  Second,  men 
who  hate  priest  and  oppressor,  who  listen  readily  to 
the  demagogues,  and  whose  hearts  are  thereby  in- 
flamed to  revenge.  Third,  those  who,  without  waver- 
ing sympathies  or  ferocity,  desire  reforms  from  motives 
of  self-interest.  They  desire  the  abolition  of  privi- 
leged orders  and  the  removal  of  restrictions  only  for 
their  own  benefit.^ 

The  fourth  class,  in  which  Coleridge  includes 
himself,  are  "the  glorious  band  of  disinterested 
patriots."  Certainly  at  the  time  these  lectures 
were  written  there  was  no  foundation  for  the 
charge  that  Coleridge  was  a  Jacobin.  He  shows 
a  very  undemocratic  tendency  to  distrust  the 
people  as  a  whole  and  a  distinctly  hostile  attitude 
towards  the  main  body  of  the  new  doctrines. 

The  Pantisocracy  scheme,  which  Coleridge 
proposed  to  Southey  in  1794,  was  Sentimental, 
Rousseauistic,  but  not  essentialh'-  Revolutionary. 
There  is  the  greatest  possible  difference  between 
desiring  to  change  the  entire  structure  of  society, 
and  being  content  to  escape  from  society  to  an 
artificially  perfected  environment.  Such  colonizing 
schemes  are  often  resorted  to  by  Revolutionists 
who  have  lost  hope ;  but  this  by  no  means  identifies 
them  with  Revolution.  Coleridge  himself  says  of 
Pantisocracy:   "What   I   dared  not  expect  from 

'  Hancock,  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  172.  Cf.  other  analyses 
of  Revolutionism  by  its  opponents,  in  Chapter  V. 


And  the  English  Novel  279 

constitutions  of  government  and  whole  nations, 
I  hoped  from  religion  and  a  few  chosen  in- 
dividuals."^ 

The  course  of  events  gradually  concentrated 
Coleridge's  love  for  humanity  into  the  more 
conventional  channels  of  patriotism;  he  became  a 
decided  Nationalist.  In  1797  was  published  the 
Ode  to  France,  also  called  Recantation,  which 
appears,  says  Professor  Dowden,  "hazardously 
near  to  political  despair."^  This  marks  the  final 
break  between  Coleridge  and  the  Revolutionists. 
But  in  truth  he  had  never  been  genuinely  in  accord 
with  the  movement  as  a  whole,  however  much 
he  may  have  sympathized  with  certain  phases 
^it. 

.:^^,Southey,  like  Wordsworth  and  Coleridge,  was 
'  captivated  in  his  youth  by  the  fine  idealism  and 
optimism  of  the  Revolution.  Under  the  impulse  of 
this  early  enthusiasm  he  wrote  a  tragedy,  Wat 
Tyler,  which,  as  Professor  Dowden  very  justly 
observes:  "May  serve  to  warn  any  young  poet  of 
the  dangers  of  making  his  art  a  direct  vehicle  for 
political  doctrine."^  Later,  his  Girondist  sym- 
pathies led  him  into  writing  another  political 
drama.  The  Fall  of  Robespierre,  in  which  Coleridge 
collaborated.  Southey's  third  Revolutionary  effort 
was  an  epic,  Joan  of  Arc,  sound  Revolutionism,  but 
very  indifferent  literature.     Coleridge,  examining 

'  Hancock,  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  i8o. 
*  Dowden,  The  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  210 
3  Ibid.,  etc.,  p.  162. 


28o  The  French  Revolution 

it  years  afterward,  "was  astonished  at  the  trans- 
mogrification of  the  fanatic  virago  into  a  modem 
novel-pawing  proselyte  of  the  Age  of  Reason,  a 
Tom  Paine  in  petticoats,  but  so  lovely!" ' 

In  the  volume  of  Minor  Poems,  published  in 
1797,  the  humanitarian  note  predominates.*  Hu- 
manitarian sentiment  was,  after  all,  the  strongest 
element  in  Southey's  Revolutionism,  and  this  re- 
mained when,  like  the  other  Lake  Poets,  he  lost 
faith  in  the  power  of  the  Revolution  to  bring  about  a 
happier  state  of  society.  It  is  not  quite  fair  to  call 
Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  and  Southey  lost  leaders. 
Their  defection  was  inevitable.  In  any  case, 
leaders  of  Revolutionary  thought  they  never 
were. 

The  opponents  of  the  Revolution  were  not  with- 
out their  representation  in  the  verse  of  the  time. 
In  November,  1797,  appeared  the  Anti- Jacobin,  a 
Weekly  Review,  under  the  direction  of  Gifford  and 
a  brilliant  group  of  young  Tories.  This  periodical 
continued  for  nearly  five  years  to  bombard  the 
new  philosophies  with  shafts  of  pointed  ridicule. 
Satires  and  parodies  without  niunber  were  directed 
against  the  solemn  absurdities  of  Pure  Reason  and 
Sentimentalism.  This  was  the  criticism,  not 
merely  of  political  prejudice,  but  of  wit  and  sound 
sense,  an  echo  from  the  age  of  Pope.  One  cannot 
but  feel  that  it  was  heartily  deserved. 

'  Dowden,  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  167. 

'  This  contains  a  poem  called  The  Triumph  of  Woman,  dedi- 
cated to  Mary  WoUstonecraft. 


And  the  English  Novel  281 

So  ends,  in  a  note  of  triumphant  satire,  the 
poetry  of  the  Revolutionary  period.  The  age  of 
generous  hopes  and  of  lawless  individual  enthusi- 
asm is  dead.  The  forces  of  conservatism  and 
expediency  reign  undisturbed.  There  remain  for 
idealism  only  a  small  group,  the  poets  of  the  after- 
glow; these,  and  one  bright  spirit  like  an  evening 
star.  Of  that  one  we  have  spoken  already,  in  a 
more  fitting  place.  Not  Shelley,  but  Byron  is 
the  true  representative  of  this  latter  age;  a  judg- 
ment which  the  popular  verdict  of  the  time 
confirms. 

The  forces  of  conservatism  had  conquered,  but 
they  paid  dear  for  their  victory.  Byron  casts 
up  the  score,  and  finds  that  the  bargain  was  not 
altogether  a  good  one.  The  apotheosis  of  ex- 
pediency was  but  a  poor  substitute  for  social 
idealism.  The  curse  of  Sentimentalism  was  in  no 
wise  lifted  by  the  repudiation  of  democracy.  The 
real  aristocracy  of  intellect,  the  fine  deferences  and 
disciplines  of  the  Age  of  Authority,  were  not  so 
easily  restored.  Southey  as  poet  laureate  might 
recant  his  Revolutionism,  but  there  was  found  no 
Dryden  to  replace  him. 

Of  such  an  age  is  Byron  at  once  the  representa- 
tive and  the  critic.  Hating  his  time,  both  for  what 
it  was  and  for  what  it  had  made  of  him,  he  lacked 
the  power  to  rise  above  it.  He  is  the  poet  of 
Revolt,  not  of  Revolution.  The  intense  senti- 
mental individualism  of  Rousseau,  alternates  in 
his  verses  with  the  mocking  iconoclasm  of  the 


282  The  French  Revolution 

Anti- Jacobin.  Only  Byron's  love  of  liberty  re- 
mained unspoiled  for  him ;  and  this  was  in  the  end 
his  salvation  from  a  life  of  half -sincerities. 

Three  lesser  poets  must  be  mentioned  who  spoke 
for  liberty  and  social  idealism  under  the  Holy 
Alliance:  Landor,  natural  aristocrat  and  follower 
of  Milton;  Leigh  Hunt,  with  his  "bright  chivalry 
for  whatever  assumed  to  itself  the  cherished 
name  and  aspect  of  liberty"^;  and  Moore,  whose 
Fudge  Family  in  Paris''  and  his  Fables  for 
the  Holy  Alliance^  are  second  only  to  Don  Juan 
in  satiric  cleverness.  These  escaped  to  some 
extent  from  the  false  conservatism  of  the  age, 
but  their  songs  and  satires  are  altogether  a  less 
serious  indictment  of  it  than  the  mocking  titan- 
ism  of  Byron. 

Such  was  the  reflection  of  the  Revolution  in  the 
poetry.  Of  the  poets  of  its  earlier  periods  we  may 
say  that  a  study  of  the  Revolution  adds  more  to  the 
interpretation  of  their  work  than  their  work  adds 
to  an  imderstanding  of  Revolutionism.  They  were 
merely  caught  for  a  time  in  the  fierce  eddy  of 
popular  feeling,  returning  afterwards,  somewhat 
disillusioned,  to  the  serene  course  of  their  own 
meditations.  It  was  only  as  a  lost  cause  that  the 
Revolution  found  its  full  poetical  expression,  and 
the  Reaction  its  satiric  criticism. 

'  Dowden,  French  Revolution,  etc.,  p.  249. 
^  Fudge  Family  in  Paris,  published  in  181 8. 
3  Fables  for  the  Holy  Alliance,  published  in  1823. 


And  the  English  Novel  283 

SECTION  2:  THE  DRAMA 

The  French  Revolution  and  the  EngUsh  Drama. ' 

The  period  of  French  Revolutionary  influence  in 
England  was  not  one  of  the  great  ages  in  the  history 
of  the  drama.  It  was  a  time  of  deep-seated  changes 
and  profoimd  unrests.  There  was  a  continuous 
war  taxing  the  country  heavily  in  lives  and  in 
money.  In  such  a  time  men  go  to  the  theatre  to  be 
amused,  to  get  away  from  the  problems  of  the 
time,  not  to  gain  a  deeper  insight  into  them. 
Nevertheless,  the  theatres  reflected  to  some  extent 
the  principles  of  the  Revolution  and  the  reaction 
against  them. 

Dates  have  an  especial  significance  here.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  in  England  those  genuinely 
understanding  the  new  theories  were  a  compara- 
tively small  group,  composed  largely  of  young 
writers  and  thinkers.  When  word  came  from 
France  of  the  summoning  of  the  States  General  and 
the  fall  of  the  Bastile,  the  country  was  on  the  whole 
pleased.  It  seemed  at  first  merely  an  aflirmation 
of  generally  accepted  Whig  principles.  But  later 
events  in  France  cast  discredit  upon  the  principles 
of  the  Revolution.  In  1793,  Pitt  saw  a  chance  to 
profit  by  the  disturbances  in  the  English  struggle 
for  a  world  market  for  her  increased  manufactures, 
and  accordingly  he  forced  England  into  a  war  with 
France  to  defend  the  sacred  principles  of  religion 

'  This  section  is  intended  to  be  little  more  than  a  brief  explana- 
tion of  the  material  gathered  in  the  Appendix. 


284  The  French  Revolution 

and  monarchy.  These  conditions  operated  to- 
gether to  produce  a  complete  revulsion  in  popular 
feeling.  A  war  always  deluges  a  country  with  a 
certain  type  of  unthinking  jingo  patriotism.  The 
small  body  of  real  Revolutionary  thinkers  came  to 
be  regarded  as  a  menace  to  society.  The  country 
at  large  became  hypersensitive  to  any  taint  of 
Revolutionary  philosophy  or  propaganda.  The 
government  was  almost  hysterical  in  its  zeal  for 
suppression. 

All  these  changes  in  feeling  were  reflected  in  the 
acting  drama  of  the  time.  From  1789  to  1793  a 
play  was  all  the  more  favourably  received  for 
containing  sympathetic  allusions  to  the  Revolu- 
tion in  France.  In  1 793,  France  declares  war  and  a 
censor  stops  a  play  of  Cumberland's  for  a  fancied 
political  reference.  From  that  date  direct  allusions 
to  the  French  Revolution  are  barred.  Instead, 
there  is  a  continued  deluge  of  plays  abusing  France 
and  celebrating  the  war,  Royalty,  Britannia,  and 
so  forth,  all  written  in  a  fine  frenzy  of  patriotism 
and  imbecility  and  finding  favour  with  a  public 
full  of  the  same  sentiments.  Verily,  St,  Jingo  was 
the  patron  of  the  time. 

Meanwhile  the  Revolutionist-baiting  goes  mer- 
rily on.  The  censor  and  a  majority  of  the  pub- 
lic are  cordially  agreed  that  the  theatre  is  no 
place  in  which  to  illustrate  new  and  possibly 
dangerous  theories.  But  the  doctrines  of  the  so- 
called  Revolutionists  bear  such  a  curious  resem- 
blance to  mere  ethical  generalizations  and  moral 


And  the  English  Novel  285 

commonplaces  that  they  are  not  always  easy  to 
identify.  Hence  the  public  becomes  capricious 
and  is  apt  to  attach  to  almost  any  passage  a  politi- 
cal significance  never  dreamed  of  by  the  author. 
A  few  plays  with  real  implications  of  Liberty, 
Equality,  and  Fraternity  slipped  by  unobserved. 
But  poor  Holcroft  had  the  misfortune  to  get  him- 
self effectually  identified  in  the  public  mind  with 
the  detested  party,  and  audiences  became  very 
subtle  in  finding  dangerous  tendencies  in  his 
plays. 

In  the  drama  as  well  as  in  the  novel,  Holcroft 
may  be  taken  as  our  representative  Revolutionist. 
His  position  as  a  dramatist  was  a  prominent  one. 
Besides  being  the  author  of  fifteen  or  more  plays, 
and  himself  a  fairly  successful  actor,  he  was  for 
two  years  the  editor  of  a  periodical  called  the 
Theatrical  Recorder.  ^ 

Yet  comparatively  few  of  Holcroft's  plays  are 
sufficiently  doctrinary  to  be  of  importance  in 
this  discussion.  Even  those  few  are  of  interest 
chiefly  as  they  show  how  sensitive  were  the  preju- 
dices that  could  take  offence  at  them.  Holcroft 
himself  complains  that  "present  and  local  appli- 
cations are  so  liable  to  be  made  where  none  are 
intended." 

His  only  play  with  a  frankly  avowed  doctrinary 
purpose  is  the  School  for  A  rrogance  ( 1 79 1 ) .  This  is 
a  satire  on  pride  of  rank  and  pride  of  wealth.  A 
French  count  of  illustrious  ancestry  falls  in  love 

^ 1805, 1806. 


286  The  French  Revolution 

with  the  daughter  of  a  London  alderman  and  is 
soundly  snubbed  by  her  vulgar  mama,  who  knows 
of  no  country  but  England  and  thinks  herself  the 
greatest  lady  in  that.  His  lady-love  points  out  to 
him  that  after  all  his  own  intense  consciousness  of 
rank  has  in  it  not  much  more  true  nobility  of  mind 
than  the  absurd  pretences  of  her  ignorant  mother. 
Hazlitt  says  of  this : 

The  School  for  Arrogance  is  the  first  of  the  author's 
pieces  in  which  there  appeared  a  marked  tendency  to 
political  or  philosophical  speculation.  Sentiments  of 
this  kind,  however,  and  at  that  time,  would  rather 
have  intended  to  increase  than  diminish  the  popularity 
of  the  piece.  A  proof  of  this  is  that  the  very  epilogue 
(which  is  seldom  designed  to  give  offence)  glances  that 
way. 

Such  is  the  modern  man  of  high-flown  fashion? 
Such  are  the  scions  sprung  from  Runny-Mead! 
The  richest  soil  bears  oft  the  rankest  weed! 
Potato-like,  the  sprouts  are  worthless  found; 
And  all  that's  good  of  them  is  underground.^ 

In  1793,  Love's  Frailties  was  acted  at  the  Hay- 
market.  A  considerable  disturbance  was  caused 
by  the  following  speech:  "I  was  bred  to  the  most 
useless  and  often  the  most  worthless  of  all  pro- 
fessions— that  of  a  gentleman."  Genest  says: 
"Considering  the  political  ferment  of  the  time, 
the  manager  was  imprudent  in  allowing  this  short 

'  Hazlitt,  Memoirs  of  Holcroft,  vol.  ii.,  p.  86. 


And  the  English  Novel  287 

speech  to  be  spoken. ' '  Holcrof t  says  in  his  preface : 
"The  persons  offended,  though  violent,  were  few. 
Their  intention  doubtless  was  good.  The  same 
cannot  be  said  for  their  intellect. " 

Holcroft's  next  play,  The  Deserted  Daughter, 
was  published  under  another  name,  because,  as 
Genest  says,  "  Holcrof t  in  1795  laboured  under 
violent  political  prejudices."  In  1798,  Knave  Or 
Not  met  with  a  cool  reception  for  the  same  reason. 
Holcroft  says  in  his  preface  that  the  acting  version 
was  cut,  "particularly  the  passage  where  Morose 
inquires  into  his  qualifications  for  being  a  lord. " 

Like  Mrs.  Inchbald,  Holcroft  did  some  of  his 
best  work  in  a  play  of  humanitarian  sentiment. 
He  treats  dramatically  the  life  of  De  L'Epee,  the 
famous  French  teacher  of  the  deaf.  The  play  is 
entitled  Deaf  and  Dumb. 

A  priori,  one  would  expect  the  plays  of  William 
Godwin  to  hold  a  position  of  considerable  im- 
portance in  this  discussion.  Such  is  not  the  case 
however.  Godwin  is  the  author  of  two  plays, 
Antonio^  and  Faulkner.^  But  we  need  not  seek 
for  political  prejudice  to  explain  their  unpopu- 
larity. Like  the  novels  of  Godwin  they  exhibit  a 
sombre,  oppressive  kind  of  power  and  a  strong 
tendency  toward  the  Gothic  Romance  type.  But 
as  plays  they  have  little  value  and  of  Revolu- 
tionary doctrines  they  exhibit  no  trace. 

Another  play  in  which  we  might  reasonably 

'  Acted  December  13,  1800,  at  Drury  Lane. 

'Acted  December  10,  1807,  at  the  Haymarket. 


288  The  French  Revolution 

expect  to  find  the  influence  of  the  author  of  Politi- 
cal Justice  is  the  younger  Colman's  popular  drama- 
tization of  Godwin's  frankly  doctrinary  novel, 
Caleb  Williams.  The  Iron  Chest  was  first  acted 
at  Drury  Lane  March  12,  1796.  The  novel  on 
which  it  was  based,  Caleb  Williams  or  Things  As 
They  Are,  was  intended,  it  will  be  remembered,  to 
illustrate  how  completely  the  machinery  of  justice 
may  be  perverted  by  the  rich  and  powerful  to  their 
own  ends.  The  novel  contains  one  chapter  in  which 
the  author  discusses  with  genuine  feeling  the  evils 
of  the  English  prison  system ;  in  the  play  all  this  is 
carefully  omitted,  only  the  story  remaining. 

Godwin's  arraignment  of  the  prison  system  does 
however  find  a  place  in  the  drama,  in  the  work  of 
his  friend  Mrs.  Inchbald.  The  title  of  her  play, 
Such  Things  Are,  immediately  suggests  the  sub- 
title of  Godwin's  novel.  The  play  was,  the  preface 
tells  us,  written  in  1786,  some  time  before  the 
publication  of  Caleb  Williams.  But  the  connex- 
ion is  none  the  less  traceable.  The  authors  were 
early  identified  with  the  same  school  of  thought 
and  an  intimate  personal  friendship,  if  nothing 
more,  existed  between  them.  Both  works  are 
inspired  by  that  spirit  of  humanitarianism  which 
went  hand  in  hand  with  the  spirit  of  the  French 
Revolution  in  England ;  the  pointing  out  of  individ- 
ual abuses  was  only  a  corollary  to  a  denunciation 
of  the  existing  social  order. 

Such  Things  Are  is  founded  on  the  character  of 
John  Howard  whose  noble  work  uf  prison  investi- 


And  the  English  Novel  289 

gation  earned  him  the  thanks  of  the  House  of 
Commons  in  1774.  It  is  interesting  to  note  here 
that  Howard's  book  on  lazarettos  was  pubHshed 
in  the  eventful  year  1789.  "Haswell, "  his  repre- 
sentative in  the  play,  is  drawn  with  rare  dignity 
and  sincerity  of  feeling.  The  main  plot  is  as 
follows :  Scene :  an  island  in  the  East  Indies.  The 
leader  of  a  rebellion  loses  his  wife  in  the  struggle. 
He  becomes  Sultan  and,  embittered  by  grief, 
adopts  harsh  measures  against  political  prisoners. 
Haswell  visits  the  prisons  (good  descriptive 
scene),  and  pleads  in  vain  with  the  Sultan  for 
reforms.  Eventually,  however,  he  gains  the  confi- 
dence of  the  Sultan  and  persuades  him  to  visit  the 
prisons  for  himself.  In  the  worst  of  them  the 
Sultan  finds  his  lost  wife.  Haswell's  speech  to 
the  Sultan  at  this  point  is  striking : 

Yoirr  wife  you  will  behold,  whom  you  have  kept  in 
want,  in  wretchedness,  in  a  damp  dungeon  for  these 
fourteen  years,  because  you  would  not  listen  to  the 
voice  of  pity.  Dread  her  look,  her  frown —  Not  on  her 
account  alone,  but  for  hundreds  of  her  fellow  sufferers ; 
for  while  your  selfish  fancy  was  searching  with  wild 
anxiety  for  her  you  loved — unpitying,  you  forgot — 
others  might  love  like  you.^ 

Mrs.  Inchbald  rarely  forgets  the  larger  significance 
of  the  individual  case.  She  is  arraigning  that 
stupidity  of  the  imagination  which,  so  long  as  the 

'  Mrs.  Inchbald,  Such  Things  Are,  Act  V.,  Sc.  3. 

19 


290  The  French  Revolution 

evils  of  the  system  do  not  touch  one's  self,  is  con- 
tent with  things  as  they  are. 

In  connexion  with  that  defiance  of  creeds, 
miscalled  "  irreligion, "  that  characterized  the 
Revolutionary  thinkers,  it  is  significant  that  "  Has- 
well"  says  the  full  statement  of  his  humanitarian 
principles  is  found  in  "a  book  called  The  Christian 
Doctrine.'"^ 

The  sub-plot  of  this  remarkable  play  is  a  clever 
satire  on  Lord  Chesterfield's  advice  to  his  son,  the 
cynical  worldly  wisdom  of  which  was  abhorrent 
to  the  Revolutionists. 

Mrs.  Inchbald's  other  plays  show  traces  of  the 
same  point  of  view,  but  none  decidedly  enough  to 
entitle  them  to  a  place  in  the  present  discussion. 

There  is  one  play  of  the  opposing  party  which 
merits  attention:  Sheridan's  Pizarro  (May  24, 
1798).  Sheridan  was  a  figure  of  some  importance 
in  the  political  as  well  as  in  the  literary  world;  a 
prominent  M.P.  attached  to  the  party  of  Fox. 
This  gives  the  play  an  almost  official  significance. 
Genest  says  of  the  speech  of  Rolla  to  the  soldiers  : 

Its  primary  object  was  to  reprobate  the  principles 
of  the  French  Revolution.  Such  was  the  popularity 
of  this  T.  that  the  king  could  not  resist  his  desire  to 
see  it.^ 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  some  extracts  from  this 
much-applauded  semi-official  discussion  of  the 
French  Revolution: 

'  Mrs.  Inchbald,  Such  Things  Are,  Act  III.,  Sc.  2  . 
"Genest,  English  Stage,  note  to  May  27,  1798. 


And  the  English  Novel  291 

They  by  strange  frenzy  driven  fight  for  power,  for 
plunder,  and  extended  rule;  we  for  our  country,  our 
altars,  and  our  homes.  They  follow  an  adventurer 
whom  they  fear  and  obey  a  power  which  they  hate; 
we  serve  a  monarch  whom  we  love — a  God  whom  we 
adore.  .  .  .  They  call  on  us  to  barter  all  the  goods  we 
have  inherited  and  proved  for  the  desperate  chance  of 
something  better  which  they  promise.  The  throne 
we  honour  is  the  people's  choice:  the  laws  we  reverence 
are  our  brave  fathers'  legacy.^ 

It  seemed  to  young  thinkers  of  the  next  few 
decades  that  all  fine  idealisms  were  shattered; 
barred  forever  from  attempting  a  practical  part  in 
the  progress  of  social  development.  But  the  spirit 
of  the  French  Revolution  was  not  destroyed,  only 
forced  to  remain  underground  and  to  find  expres- 
sion in  less  direct  ways.  In  this  latent  period  of  Re- 
volutionism there  appear  with  increasing  frequency 
plays  built  about  the  type-figure  of  the  Benevo- 
lent Outlaw,  the  man  who  feels  a  fundamental 
wrong  in  the  social  system  against  which  he 
must  forever  rebel  without  having  the  power 
to  change  it,  and  who  is  forced  outside  the  social 
order  by  all  that  is  strong  or  noble  in  his  own 
nature.  This  is  the  type  which  finds  expres- 
sion in  much  of  Byron's  work.  But  the  Benevo- 
lent Outlaw  manifested  a  tendency  of  the  time, 
as  these  plays  indicate.  It  is  a  mistaken  crit- 
icism  that   gives   Byron    credit    for    originating 

'  Sheridan,  Pizaro,  Act  II.,  Sc.  2. 


292  The  English  Novel 

the   type   of   which   he   was   the   most  popular 
exponent.  ^ 

'  The  closet  dramas  of  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Southey,  Byron, 
and  Shelley  do  not  properly  belong  in  a  discussion  of  the  popular 
acting  drama.  They  have  been  mentioned  already  in  the  pre- 
ceding section,  as  poetry. 


CHAPTER  IX 
CONCLUSIONS 

PERHAPS  it  may  be  well  to  summarize  the 
material  which  has  been  presented  before  we 
attempt  to  formulate  our  general  conclusions. 

The  true  Revolutionists — the  writers  who  had 
the  ability  to  distinguish  the  real  conflict  of  ideas 
below  the  surface  of  events  and  form  a  consistent 
conviction  more  or  less  independent  of  the  changes 
in  popular  feeling — these  were  necessarily  a  very 
limited  group.  Only  three  of  them  were  among  our 
novelists.  Of  these  the  earliest  and  in  every  way 
the  most  truly  representative  was  Thomas  Hol- 
croft.  His  Revolutionism  was  no  lightly  adopted 
surface  philosophy,  but  was  created  from  within 
by  the  intensity  of  his  social  idealism.  The  vital 
principle  of  his  ethical  and  political  system  was  the 
subordination  of  individual  rights  and  ambitions 
to  the  service  of  the  social  whole.  Holcroft  had 
reached  that  high  plane  of  ethical  thought  where 
the  ideals  of  service  and  self-development  are  no 
longer  in  conflict.  Furthermore,  his  idealism  is 
modified  by  a  considerable  knowledge  of  the  world, 
and  a  sense  of  humour  that  enabled  him  to  laugh 
even  at  himself  without  bitterness. 

293 


294  The  French  Revolution 

William  Godwin  was  influenced  by  Holcroft^ 
but  his  Revolutionism  was  dominated  by  his  meta- 
physical studies  and  by  his  intensely  introspective 
temperament.  Being  quite  devoid  of  any  saving 
sense  of  fact,  he  formulated  a  political  system  that 
was  a  reductio  ad  absurdum  of  the  rationalistic 
tendencies  of  his  age.  His  novels  are  curiously 
illustrative  of  the  morbid  egoism  which  is  the 
result  of  an  over-individualistic  philosophy.  They 
are,  however,  redeemed  by  some  rather  fine  pass- 
ages of  humanitarian  feeling. 

Shelley's  three  novels  belong  to  his  early  and 
little  known  prose  period.  Although  valueless  in 
themselves,  they  serve  to  mark  distinct  stages  in 
the  development  of  the  author.  Shelley's  other 
prose  writings  are  more  significant.  These  express 
certain  phases  of  his  Revolutionism  which  find  no 
place  in  his  poems,  and  without  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  his  political 
wisdom. 

So  far,  we  have  observed  two  distinct  elements 
in  the  Revolutionary  philosophy:  democratic 
individualism  and  social  idealism.  In  Godwin 
individualism  dominates.  In  Holcroft  and  Shelley 
it  is  completely  subordinated  to  social  idealism. 

The  opponents  of  Revolutionism  wrote  a  num- 
ber of  novels,  two  of  which  at  least  show  a  re- 
markably clear  insight  into  the  weak  points  of 
democratic  individualism.  The  argument  most 
frequently  advanced  against  it  is  its  inadequacy 
as  a  system  of  social  or  even  of  personal  ethics. 


And  the  English  Novel  295 

Followed  to  its  logical  conclusion  it  would  result 
in  anarchy  and  insanity.  The  second  objection  is 
of  a  somewhat  more  theoretical  nature.  This 
involves  a  classification  of  the  various  heterodox 
tendencies  of  the  time;  arriving  at  the  conclusion 
that  these  all  have  their  basis  in  a  revolt  from  the 
principle  of  authority,  and  a  substitution  of  indi- 
vidual reason  or  individual  feeling  for  all  general 
standards,  religious  as  well  as  political.  Another 
conservative  protest  against  the  new  tendencies  is 
in  the  form  of  an  attack  on  the  financial  methods 
of  the  new  capitalist  classes  and  a  lament  for  the 
passing  of  the  older  land-owning  gentry.  ^ 

These  attacks  are,  it  will  be  observed,  directed 
mainly  against  democratic  individualism.  Social 
idealism  is  dismissed  with  a  rather  superficial 
charge  of  inexpediency.  The  representatives  of 
conservatism  seem  quite  unaware  of  the  rather 
fine  idealisms  implicit  in  the  old  order.  Their 
criticism  is  purely  destructive  and  quite  fails  to 
distinguish  the  elements  of  permanent  value  either 
in  the  old  or  in  the  new  ideals. 

Revolutionism  was  not  a  ready-made  hypothesis 
which  one  either  accepted  or  rejected.  It  was  a 
movement  by  which  one  was  more  or  less  in- 
fluenced. It  is  not  sufficiently  accurate  to  classify 
our  novelists  merely  as  "Revolutionists"  and 
"opponents  of  Revolutionism."  Between  the 
conscious  democratic  individualist  accepting  the 

'  Cf.  Chapter  IV.,  especially  novels  of  Lucas,  Walker,  and  E.  T. 
Sun, 


296  The  French  Revolution 

philosophy  with  a  full  understanding  of  its  implica- 
tions and  the  equally  intelligent  defender  of  the 
principle  of  authority,  there  was  a  much  larger 
number  of  writers  whose  opinions  ranged  through 
all  possible  degrees  of  sympathy  and  disapproval. 

The  finest  representative  of  these  Revolution- 
ary sympathizers  was  Robert  Bage.  Bage  was  a 
man  entirely  capable  of  perceiving  the  full  impli- 
cations of  both  philosophies,  but  he  was  also 
capable  of  a  fine  moderation  in  his  enthusiasms. 
He  was  free  from  Sentimentalism,  and  his  Re- 
volutionism was  held  in  check  by  a  large  fund  of 
common  sense.  It  was  apparent  to  him  that  the 
Conservatives  and  Reactionaries  were  a  little  more 
wrong  than  any  one  else  at  that  time;  hence  he 
was  a  Revolutionist,  with  important  reservations. 

Probably  all  the  other  semi-Revolutionists 
fancied  themselves  actuated  by  a  fine  discrimina- 
tion like  that  of  Bage.  But  it  is  only  too  apparent 
that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  their  eclecticism  was 
sheer  muddle-headedness.  They  were  well-in- 
tentioned people  whose  attention  had  been  at- 
tracted by  some  crying  evil  of  the  time — the  prison 
system,  the  slave  trade,  rotten  boroughs  or  the 
like — or  who  had  discovered  that  an  aristocracy 
of  birth  was  illogical;  and  who  thereupon  pro- 
ceeded to  dabble  in  Revolutionary  philosophy. 
They  were  for  the  most  part  entirely  unaware  of 
any  fundamental  principles  involved  in  the  move- 
ment which  they  regarded  with  such  patronizing 
favoiir. 


And  the  English  Novel  297 

It  is  in  this  group  that  we  must  classify  the 
lady  novelists.  Their  Revolutionism  was  in  every 
case  traceable  to  the  influence  of  some  man  of 
their  acquaintance  who  was  a  Revolutionist,  from 
whom  they  received  their  political  opinions  with 
exemplary  feminine  docility.  But  they  in  no  wise 
allowed  their  philosophic  radicalism  to  interfere 
with  their  religious  orthodoxy ;  to  which  they  clung 
with  gentle  firmness,  as  a  substitute  for  thinking. 

The  new  impetus  which  the  feminist  movement 
received  at  this  time  was  connected  with  Revolu- 
tionism only  indirectly.  Its  real  source  was  to  be 
found  in  the  changes  arising  from  the  Industrial 
Revolution,  rather  than  in  the  political  philoso- 
phies of  the  day,  however  glibly  some  of  its  later 
exponents  may  have  used  phrases  borrowed  from 
the  French  Revolution.  The  principle  involved 
was  not  individualism  versus  authority,  but  simply 
the  question  of  whether  a  woman  was  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  human  being  with  all  that  that  implies 
of  dignity  and  responsibility,  or  whether  she  was  a 
sort  of  secondary  creation,  valuable  only  through 
her  sex  attributes.  Mary  WoUstonecraft's  clear- 
headed perception  of  the  point  at  issue  and  of 
the  economic  situation  which  had  precipitated  the 
whole  discussion  constituted  the  only  real  contri- 
bution of  the  Revolutionists  to  the  feminist 
question. 

With  this  simimary  of  the  material  presented, 
we  may  perhaps  venture  a  few  generalizations 
upon  special  aspects  of  Revolutionism. 


298  The  French  Revolution 

In  our  discussion  of  the  background  of  ideas,  ^  we 
observed  certain  parallelisms  in  the  progress  and 
development  of  political  and  theological  concepts. 
The  seventeenth-century  movement  of  democratic 
individualism  was  closely  identified  with  certain 
forms  of  Dissent.  The  novels  which  we  have 
considered  indicate  that  the  same  connexion 
existed  between  eighteenth-century  Revolutionism 
and  the  later  theologies  of  Dissent. 

It  may  be  well  to  summarize  out  observations 
on  this  point. 

Holcroft,  like  most  sensible  men,  was  rather 
chary  of  defining  his  beliefs.  His  religion  was  a 
force  rather  than  a  formula.  But  from  his  critic- 
isms on  churchmen,  and  on  the  absurdity  of  any 
attempt  to  secure  uniformity  of  belief,  we  may 
conclude  that  he  was  pretty  well  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  Establishment.  It  is  probable  that  in  his 
youth  he  was  attracted  for  a  time  by  some  of  the 
finer  spiritual  values  of  the  new  Methodist  move- 
ment. But  he  was  soon  repelled  by  the  superficial 
enthusiasm  to  which  it  was  rapidly  tending. 

There  is  no  difficulty  in  classifying  the  religious 
opinions  of  Godwin.  The  son  of  a  dissenting 
minister,  educated  in  a  dissenting  theological 
seminary  on  a  mental  diet  of  metaphysics  and 
Calvinism,  he  represents  theological  individualism 
in  its  most  extreme  form. 

Shelley's  atheism  has  always  proved  a  trap  to 
the  unwary   critic.     The  efforts  that  have  been 

'  Cf.  Chapter  I.,  Section  2. 


And  the  English  Novel  299 

made  to  prove  that  he  was  really  only  a  deist,  or 
that  he  was  on  the  point  of  changing  his  opinions 
at  the  time  of  his  death  are  distinctly  amusing. 
Shelley  himself,  in  answer  to  the  question:  "Why 
do  you  call  yourself  an  atheist?"  said: 

It  is  a  word  of  abuse  to  stop  discussion,  a  painted 
devil  to  frighten  the  foolish,  a  threat  to  intimidate 
the  wise  and  good.  I  used  it  to  express  my  abhorrence 
of  superstition;  I  took  up  the  word  as  a  knight  took 
up  a  gauntlet,  in  defiance  of  injustice.^ 

From  which  it  is  clear  that  Shelley  was  quite  aware 
of  the  meaninglessness  of  the  word.  But  so  far  as 
the  term  has  an  accepted  meaning,  Shelley  was 
quite  correct  in  calling  himself  an  atheist.  It  is 
naturally  rather  confusing  to  persons  of  a  literal 
mind  to  find  the  one  profoundly  religious  per- 
sonality in  an  orthodox  but  unspiritual  age  mani- 
festing his  fervour  by  a  wholesale  denunciation  of 
the  very  foundations  of  the  creeds.  The  orthodox 
have  no  cause  to  be  alarmed  over  his  influence, 
however,  for  it  is  only  too  apparent  that  the 
majority  of  people  are  quite  incapable  of  under- 
standing the  Shelley  an  type  of  atheism. 

Whether  Robert  Bage  was  a  Friend  or  not,  we 
have  Scott's  opinion  that  he  was  "a  sectary — and 
could  be  a  friend  neither  to  the  Church  of  England 
nor  to  the  doctrines  she  teaches."  Probably  his 
theological  opinions  were  much  the  same  as  those 
of  Holcroft.  Amelia  Opie  was  brought  up  a  Uni- 
tarian and  later  became  a  Friend.    Mrs.  Inchbald 

'  Trelawney,  Records,  p.  62. 


300  The  French  Revolution 

was  a  Roman  Catholic  with  occasional  fits  of 
scepticism.  Concerning  the  other  novelists  of  our 
group  no  record  remains  on  this  point.  So  far  as 
we  know,  not  one  of  the  Revolutionary  novelists 
was  a  member  of  the  Established  Church. 

The  opponents  of  Revolutionism  were  very 
decidedly  aware  of  the  connexion  between  Dissent 
and  political  radicalism.  Lucas  and  Walker  vir- 
tually identify  the  two  as  phases  of  the  same  spirit 
of  individualistic  revolt  against  authority. 

The  intimate  connexion  between  religious  and 
political  theory  is  no  new  observation.  It  is  at 
least  as  old  as  Machiavelli's  Prince,  although  it 
seems  to  have  been  pretty  well  overlooked  in  recent 
discussions  of  Revolutionism.  The  opposition  of 
Dissenters  to  the  government  has  been  attributed 
to  discontent  arising  from  their  legal  disabilities. 
That  was  doubtless  a  contributory  cause.  But  if 
we  are  interested  in  the  more  general  principle 
involved,  we  shall  have  little  difficulty  in  perceiv- 
ing an  affinity  between  democratic  and  theological 
individualism  that  need  not  go  for  its  explanation 
to  accidental  circumstances  like  test  acts. 

Besides  the  philosophy  of  Revolutionism,  there 
is  an  economic  element  which  has  been  somewhat 
neglected  in  discussing  the  literature  of  the  move- 
ment.^    We  have  already  observed  in  our  dis- 

'  In  fact,  Dr.  Cestre  is  the  only  critic,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  who 
treats  this  aspect  of  the  time  in  relation  to  the  literature  of 
Revolutionism.  He  touches  upon  it  in  his  Revolution  et  Les  Poetes 
Anglais,  and  also  in  his  Life  of  Thelwall. 


And  the  English  Novel  301 

cussion  of  the  background  of  events  how  seriously 
the  entire  social  structure  had  recently  been 
affected  by  the  changes  and  maladjustments 
arising  from  the  Industrial  Revolution.  The 
whole  nation  was  pervaded  by  social  unrests  which 
influenced  the  thought  of  the  time  to  a  degree 
which  it  is  hard  to  overestimate. 

Our  little  group  of  novelists  were  somewhat 
divided  in  their  attitude  toward  the  economic  im- 
plications of  their  philosophy.  Those  whom  we 
have  called  the  true  Revolutionists  were  willing 
to  f  oUow  social  idealism  and  democratic  individual- 
ism wherever  they  might  lead.  They  saw  clearly 
that  poHtical  equaUty  was  valueless  as  an  ideal  if 
its  attainment  was  to  be  merely  the  prelude  to 
increased  economic  inequality. 

Holcroft  was  himself  of  the  "lower"  class  by 
birth  and  early  environment.  Consequently  his 
attitude  on  industrial  questions  is  quite  free  from 
Sentimentalism  and  also  from  indifference.  He 
saw  clearly  that  it  was  not  for  the  good  of  the  social 
whole  that  any  considerable  group  shoiild  be  pre- 
vented from  maintaining  a  decent  standard  of 
living.  He  felt  that  the  complaints  of  the  wage- 
workers  were  not  without  foundation.  But  the 
spirit  of  class  hatred  seemed  to  him  entirely  stupid 
and  harmful.  Instead  of  preaching  a  doctrine  of 
violent  Revolutionism  among  the  dispossessed 
classes,  Holcroft  addresses  the  property  holders  in 
a  tone  of  stern  and  sorrowful  admonition.  Repent, 
and  institute  reforms  of  your  own  accord,  lest  a 


302  The  French  Revolution 

worse  thing  befall  you,  is  his  message.  The 
possession  of  wealth  he  regards  not  as  an  absolute 
right,  but  as  an  obligation  to  service.  This  is  the 
extent  of  Holcroft's  communism. 

Godwin,  as  we  might  expect,  has  all  manner  of 
economic  whimsies.  Property,  he  says,  belongs  to 
him  who  needs  it  most.  This  is  the  only  property 
right  that  is  valid  according  to  political  justice. 
But  Godwin's  extreme  communism  is  modified  by 
some  recognition  of  the  inexpediency  of  its  immedi- 
ate introduction.  The  result  is,  that  between  the 
boldness  of  his  theory  and  the  timidity  of  his 
immediate  programme,  Godwin  contributes  just 
nothing  to  the  economic  wisdom  of  his  time. 

Shelley,  like  Holcroft,  is  interested  primarily  in 
the  moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of  man- 
kind. But  being  no  Sentimentalist,  he  perceives 
that  economic  questions  must  be  dealt  with  as  a 
means  to  that  end.  As  a  true  social  idealist,  he 
demands  a  more  equable  distribution  of  wealth, 
not  on  the  groimd  of  abstract  right,  but  as  a  matter 
of  a  higher  expediency,  because  the  extremes  of 
wealth  and  poverty  are  alike  destructive  to  the 
finer  values  in  life.  "Every  man  has  a  right  to  a 
certain  degree  of  leisure  and  liberty  because  it  is 
his  duty  to  attain  a  certain  degree  of  knowledge. 
He  may  before  he  ought, "  says  Shelley. 

Robert  Bage  was  himself  a  factory  owner;  but 
his  opinions  on  economic  questions  are  as  free  from 
any  class  bias  as  those  of  the  proletarian  Holcroft. 
If  he  has  rather  less  to  say  about  the  anti-social 


And  the  English  Novel  303 

effect  of  extreme  poverty,  his  denunciations  of 
wealth  and  luxury  are  none  the  less  vigorous. 

But  most  of  the  general  sympathizers  with  the 
Revolution  were  either  unaware  of  any  economic 
question  at  all,  or  took  a  firm  stand  for  the  sacred 
rights  of  property.  Mrs.  Inchbald  is  the  only  one 
of  the  lady  novelists  who  has  anything  to  say  on 
the  matter.  She  is  aware  of  the  intense  social 
unrests  which  were  threatening  a  violent  outbreak 
of  Revolutionism  among  the  industrial  workers, 
and  she  ironically  admonishes  the  benevolent  rich 
to  "give  a  little,  lest  the  poor,  driven  to  despair, 
should  take  all." 

The  writer  who  saw  most  clearly  the  economic 
basis  of  the  conflicts  over  political  theory  in  France 
and  in  England,  was  Mary  WoUstonecraft.  Her 
charge,  that  the  extreme  solicitude  of  the  dominant 
bourgeoisie  for  the  preservation  of  law  and  order 
was  in  reality  merely  a  concern  for  the  security  of 
their  own  property  rights,  is  amply  borne  out  by 
the  testimony  of  her  opponents  as  well  as  by  various 
significant  events.  It  is  quite  clear  that  Walker 
and  Lucas,  for  instance,  see  in  Revolutionism  only 
a  threatened  insiurection  of  the  ignorant  and 
irresponsible  masses  against  their  natural  superiors 
the  capitalist  classes;  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
lazy  and  inefficient  to  overthrow  society  for  their 
own  gain.  Ownership  of  capital  is  to  them 
an  absolute  right,  the  protection  of  which  con- 
stitutes the  chief  function  of  government.  It 
carries   with   it   no   responsibility   or  obligation. 


304  The  French  Revolution 

The  function  of  the  poorer  classes  is  to  produce  as 
much  as  possible.  That  of  the  rich  is  to  consume, 
and  thereby  stimulate  production.  Walker  actu- 
ally declares  that  ' '  the  rich  would  do  better  with- 
out the  poor  than  the  poor  without  them.  "^ 
These  writers  draw  no  moral  inference  from  the 
economic  maladjustments,  as  did  Holcroft  and 
Shelley. 

It  may  be  said  that  a  writer's  attitude  on  this 
question  of  property  right  is  the  crucial  test  of  his 
Revolutionism.  Boiirgeois  capitalism  had  much 
in  common  with  democracy  in  its  opposition  to  the 
hereditary  aristocracy.  But  capitalism  soon  per- 
ceived that  the  democratic  ideal  was  a  dangerous 
ally.  We  have  observed  how  quickly  popular 
feeling  in  England  was  changed  when  the  bourgeois 
Constituent  Assembly  with  its  property  qualifica- 
tions for  suffrage  gave  place  to  the  violent  democ- 
racy of  the  Paris  mob. 

There  were  two  antagonistic  forces  in  England 
during  the  Revolution.  The  force  in  control  of  the 
government  was  the  new  aristocracy  of  wealth, 
inspired  not  so  much  perhaps  by  greed  as  by  the 
desire  for  power,  to  whom  the  national  prosperity 
consisted  in  the  rapid  accumulation  of  capital  at  all 
costs  and  the  securing  of  commercial  supremacy 
over  other  nations.  Opposed  to  them  were  the 
industrial  workers  and  the  small  property  owners, 
dispossessed  by  the  Industrial  Revolution.  These 
perceived  only  the  hopeless  wretchedness  of  their 

'  Cf.  Chapter  V. 


And  the  English  Novel  3^5 

own  condition,  and  regarded  the  dominant  class 
with  a  bitter  unreasoning  resentment. 

The  issue  between  these  two  forces  was  in  no 
way  a  moral  or  intellectual  one:  it  was  a  blind 
elemental  struggle  for  existence  and  power.  Class 
hatred  was  about  equally  strong  on  both  sides. 
Of  course  each  was  quite  willing  to  use  moral 
argument  as  a  weapon  to  turn  public  opinion 
against  the  other.  The  proletariat  clearly  per- 
ceived the  sin  of  greed  and  luxury,  and  the  bour- 
geoisie were  fully  aware  of  the  evils  of  laziness  and 
inefficiency  and  lawlessness.  The  rights  of  man 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  sanctity  of  law,  order,  and 
respect  for  superiors  on  the  other,  were  catch 
phrases  frequently  heard  in  connexion  with  riots 
and  harsh  repressive  measures.  But  excepting  for 
a  sentimental  boiirgeois  hiimanitarianism  and  an 
equally  sentimental  proletarian  regard  for  the 
"republican  virtues,"  neither  side  was  willing  to 
apply  moral  judgment  and  discipline  to  its  own 
case. 

Between  these  two  opposing  forces  stood  the 
little  group  of  Revolutionists, — democratic  in- 
dividualists in  their  philosophy,  but  pure  social 
idealists  in  their  ethical  and  economic  programme. 
These  writers  insist  boldly  and  uncompromisingly 
that  the  issue  is  in  the  last  resort  a  moral  one,  and 
that  both  sides  are  in  the  wrong.  They  refuse  to 
regard  wealth  and  poverty,  individual  or  national, 
as  facts  of  supreme  importance  in  themselves, 
excepting  in  so  far  as  they  help  or  hinder  human 


3o6  The  French  Revolution 

development.  The  right  of  the  individual  to  do  as 
he  will  with  his  own  property  they  regard  as 
entirely  subordinate  to  his  duty  and  to  the  rights 
of  the  social  whole.  If  the  social  idealists  seemed 
unduly  to  favoiir  the  proletarian  side,  it  was  be- 
cause at  the  time  of  the  Revolution  that  was 
distinctly  the  oppressed  party.  But  nothing  was 
farther  from  their  desire  than  to  substitute  a  reign 
of  uneducated  lawlessness  and  indolence  for  a 
reign  of  semi-educated  selfishness  and  greed. 
Their  doctrine  furnished  as  severe  a  moral  dis- 
cipline for  the  one  as  for  the  other. 

The  principle  of  social  idealism  was  the  true  and 
abiding  contribution  of  the  Revolutionary  philo- 
sophy to  political  wisdom.  The  belief  that  a  high 
and  conscious  purpose  transcending  petty  ex- 
pediencies is  not  merely  a  factor  in  sound  govern- 
ment but  its  guiding  principle,  has  never  been  more 
courageously  maintained.  There  was  sore  need  of 
such  a  doctrine  in  the  eighteenth  century;  the 
principle  of  authority  was  outgrown,  and  social 
idealism  was  the  only  thing  that  could  supply  its 
place  as  a  political  faith  and  discipline. 

Social  idealism  made  many  mistakes  at  first; 
partly,  perhaps,  because  of  its  temporary  alliance 
with  democratic  individualism.  The  points  of 
Burke  were  well  taken ;  expediency,  the  wisdom  of 
the  past,  and  the  organic  nature  of  society  had  all 
been  disregarded  in  an  insistence  on  abstract 
principles.  But  in  a  right  conception  of  govern- 
ment the  function  of  a  regard  for  expediency  and 


And  the  English  Novel  307 

tradition  is  critical  and  corrective,  not  initiative. 
When  practical  considerations  succeed  in  obsciiring 
the  real  purpose  of  government  evil  is  sure  to 
follow.  For  social  idealism  is,  after  all,  only  a 
higher  form  of  expediency,  a  perception  of  what 
makes  for  the  highest  good  of  the  social  whole 
rather  than  for  the  temporary  advantage  of  some 
part. 


APPENDIX  TO  CHAPTER  VIII,  SECTION   2 

Lists  of  Plays  Showing  Tendencies  Influenced 
BY  THE  French  Revolution 

The  method  of  presenting  the  material  here  col- 
lected was  chosen,  after  considerable  deliberation,  in 
the  hope  of  thus  giving  a  more  complete  view  of  the 
subject  than  is  possible  in  a  treatment,  necessarily- 
limited,  of  separate  writers.  This  Appendix  is  in- 
tended to  supplement  Chapter  IX,  Section  2:  the 
conclusions  of  the  chapter  are  based  upon  both. 

The  writer  is  endeavouring  to  present  here  the  re- 
sults of  an  examination  of  Genest,  covering  the  period 
from  1789  to  1 812  inclusive,^  with  a  view  to  throwing 
light  upon  such  questions  as  these:  To  what  extent 
was  the  stage  of  that  period  sensitive  to  current  politi- 
cal tendencies?  How  far  did  the  government  censor- 
ship act  as  a  check  on  the  theatres  in  this  respect? 
What  was  the  prevailing  political  sentiment  of  the 
theatre-going  public,  and  especially,  what  was  their 

'  These  dates  are  chosen  rather  arbitrarily.  The  first  is  the 
date  of  the  summoning  of  the  States  General,  the  actual  beginning 
of  the  French  Revolution.  The  second  is  chosen  as  being  late 
enough  in  the  Napoleonic  era  to  show  fully  the  reaction  against 
the  principles  of  the  French  Revolution. 

The  quotations  are  all  from  Genest.  Page  references  are 
omitted,  as  the  date  is  sufficient  to  locate  the  passage. 

309 


310  The  French  Revolution 

attitude  towards  the  French  Revolution?  Did  the 
point  of  view  of  the  "Revolutionary  School"  find  a 
minority  representation  in  the  theatre?  The  answers 
might  have  a  decided  value  in  showing  us  the  ten- 
dencies of  the  time  in  their  true  proportion.  The 
adherents  of  the  Revolutionary  principles  bulk  so 
large  in  the  literature  of  the  time,  that  we  are  some- 
times prone  to  forget  how  insignificant  and  despicable 
a  minority  they  must  have  seemed  to  their  contem- 
poraries. 

The  list,  based  upon  Genest,  the  Theatrical  Re- 
corder, and  an  examination  of  the  plays  themselves 
whenever  available,  includes  as  nearly  as  possible  all 
plays  appearing  for  the  first  time  in  the  period  con- 
sidered which  seem  to  have  a  particular  bearing 
upon  the  political  tendencies  of  the  time.  They  are 
arranged,  in  the  hope  of  making  apparent  certain 
tendencies,  as  follows:  i.  Plays  which,  in  general, 
express  the  reaction  against  the  French  Revolution; 
which  are  inspired  by  the  violent  patriotism  of  war 
times,  and  support  the  policy  of  those  in  power.  2. 
Plays  which  have  a  more  direct  bearing  upon  the 
principles  of  the  French  Revolution  in  England; 
especially,  those  which  caused  popular  demonstrations 
or  had  difficulties  with  the  censor  and  licenser. 

In  such  an  examination  as  the  present  a  number  of 
subordinate  tendencies  stand  out  very  clearly.  One 
finds  the  dramatic  representatives  of  the  Gothic 
Romance,  the  Byronic  Hero,  the  Noble  Savage,  etc. 
Most  of  these  topics  have  but  an  indirect  bearing 
upon  the  subject  of  this  chapter.  But  there  are  two 
types  which  seem  to  me  so  closely  allied  to  the  spirit 
of  the  French  Revolution  in  England  that  I  have 
added  them  to  the  list,  in  separate  groups.    These  are 


And  the  English  Novel  311 

(i)  the  Benevolent  Outlaw  or  Brigand,  of  the  type  of 
Schiller's  Raiiber,  and  (2)  plays  built  around  certain 
humanitarian  movements,  such  as  prison  reform,  care 
of  defectives,  abolition  of  chattel  slavery,  etc.  I  have 
further  noted  a  few  significant  revivals  of  old  plays. 


PLAYS  OF  GENERAL  PATRIOTIC  AND  ANTI-FRENCH 
SENTIMENT.     PLAYS  SUPPORTING  THE  PARTY 
IN  POWER  AND  CELEBRATING  CUR- 
RENT EVENTS 

1789,  May      19.     Laoeudemonos;  or,  A  People  Made  Happy. 

"A  loyal  effusion,  on  the  King's  recovery." 
1793,  May       3.     To  Arms;  or,  The  British  Recruit 

1793,  May      II.     The  Rival  Soldiers. 

1793)  Sept.     12.     Caernarvon  Castle;  or,  The  Birth  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales. 
"An  extravagant  compliment  to  royalty." 

1794,  Feb.      29.     British  Fortitude. 

1794,  March    9.     Siege  of  Meaux.     (Pye.) 

Plot:  Rescue  of  nobility  from  attacks  of 
peasants  after  the  siege  of  Poitiers.     Exalta- 
tion of  England. 
1794,  March  24.     Fall  of  Martinico,  or,  Britannia  Triumphant. 
1794,  July      18.     Rule  Britannia.     (Roberts.) 
1794,  July      20.     Britain's  Glory,  or,  A  Trip  to  Portsmouth. 
1794,  May       6.     Temple  of  Hymen. 

"A  masque  in  honor  of  the  nuptials  of  the 
Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales." 
1794,  Sept.     23.     The  Rage. 

"Said  to  be  full  of  allusions  to  the  Duke  of 

Q." 

1794,  Dec.       6.     Town  Before  You.     (Mrs.  Cowley.) 

(G.)  "Ostentatious  display  of  patriotic 
sentiments." 

1795,  Feb.      21.     England  Preserved. 

(G.)  "The  subject  was  doubtless  chosen 
for  the  sake  of  introducing  patriotic  sentiments 
and  invectives  against  the  French. " 


312 


The  French  Revolution 


1795,  April       6.     Windsor  Castle.     (Pearce. 

"  In  honor  of  the  marriage  of  the  Prince  and 
Princess  of  Wales. " 
i79Sf  May       6.     Death     of     Captain     Faulkener;     or,     British 
Heroism. 
"English   and    French   frigates   appear   at 
back  of  stage  in  act  of  engagement. " 
I795f  June       3.     Secret  Tribunal. 

"In  the  last  scene  of  the  second  act,  a 
compliment  to  the  '  Isle  of  Glory '  (England)  is 
introduced  with  much  propriety. " 

1796,  July      II.     Siege  of  Quebec. 

1797,  Feb.      20.     Bantry  Bay. 

"Founded  on  the  attempt  of  the  French  to 
land  in  Bantry  Bay.  Has  nothing  to  recom- 
mend it  but  its  loyalty." 

1797,  May      II.     Surrender  of  Trinidad. 
17()T,  Nov.       9.     Trip  to  the  Nore. 

"Temporary  piece  to  celebrate  Lord  Dun- 
can's victory.  Franklin  says  he  wrote  it  in  ess 
than  a  day." 

1798,  May     21.     Escape. 

"A  Pantomime   Interlude,  founded   on   a 
recent  fortunate  event. " 
I797»  Feb.      27.         "Toward  the  voluntary  contribution  now 
open  at  the  Bank  for  the  defence  of  our  Coun- 
try." 

1797,  Sept.     20.     England's  Glory,  or.   The  Defeat  of  the  Dutch 

Fleet  by  the  Gallant  Admiral  Duncan. 

1798,  March  31.     Raft;  or.  Both  Sides  of  the  Water. 

"A  temporary  trifle  by  Cross;  it  was  written 
at  the  time  when  Bonaparte  threatened   to 
invade  England  with  an  army  who  were  to 
cross  the  channel  on  rafts." 
1 7981  July      21.     Cambro-Britons. 

"It    would    seem    from    the    preface    that 
Boaden's  chief  object  in  writing  this  was  to 
show  his  patriotism  and  loyalty. " 
1798,  Nov.       6.     Rama  Droog. 

In  the  last  scene  British  troops  take  a  fort. 


And  the  English  Novel  313 

1799,  Oct.        7.     Naval  Pillar.     (T.  Dibdin.) 

1800,  Sept.       2.     Review;  or,  Wags  at  Windsor. 

"Review  represented  at  the  end  by  figures 
in  perspective." 

1 801,  Jan.      29.     Veteran  Tar. 

"At   the   conclusion,   French  and   English 
vessels  seen  engaging.'' 
1803,  March    5.     John    Bulls;    or,    An  Englishman's   Fireside. 

(COLMAN.) 

1803,  May     20.     King  John,  as  altered  by  Dr.  Valpy. 

"The  allusions  to  the  state  of  France  in  1800 
which  he  has  thrown  in  are  contemptible. " 
1803,  Oct.      24.     Maid  of  Bristol. 

"The  Epilog  was  written  by  the  Younger 
Colman.     It  contains  some  most  bitter  sar- 
casms on  Bonaparte,  all  expressed  in  very  neat 
and  pointed  terms. " 
1803,  Dec.      13.  English  Fleet  in  1342. 

"Dibdin  heaps  compliment  on  the  English, 
upon  compHment,  in  a  way  that  can  hardly 
fail  of  being  nauseous  to  any  person  of  good 
sense. " 
1805,  Sept.     12.     Who's  Afraid?     Ha!    Hal    Ha! 

"A  patriotic  effusion,  founded  on  the  in- 
tended invasion." 
1805,  Nov.     II.         "A  Melo-Drama  piece,  by  Cumberland,  to 
commemorate  the  victory  and  death  of  Lord 
Viscount  Nelson." 

1808,  Nov.     ID.     Siege  of  St.  Quentin;  or,  Spanish  Heroism. 

"By  Hooke;  merely  written  with  a  view  to 
introducing  some  popular  sentiments  about 
the  modern  Spanish  Patriots." 

1809,  Feb.      16.     Monody  on  the  Death  of  Sir  John  Moore. 
1809,  July        4.     Soldier's  Daughter. 

1809,  Oct.      25.     Britain's  Jubilee. 

"Written  to  celebrate  the  entrance  of  the 
king  on  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  reign. " 
1811,  June     10.     Royal  Oak. 

"  Based  on  the  escape  of  Charles  II. "  King 
appears  as  a  noble  and  generous  character. 


314  The  French  Revolution 

PLAYS   HAVING   A    MORE    DIRECT    BEARING    UPON 
THE  THEORIES   OF   THE   FRENCH   REVOLUTION 
IN    ENGLAND.     ESPECIALLY,    PLAYS  WHICH 
WERE  INTERFERED  WITH  BY  THE  CEN- 
SOR, OR  WHICH  CAUSED  ANY  POPU- 
LAR DEMONSTRATION 

1789,  Nov.       7.     National  Prejudice. 

1789,  Nov.  13.  Island  of  St.  Margaret.  (Hon.  John  St.  John.) 
"  Founded  on  Voltaire's  account  of  the  Man 
in  the  Iron  Mask.  Iron  Mask  is  confined  in  a 
castle.  The  mob  arise  and  restore  him  to  his 
Uberty.  The  great  success  with  which  this 
was  acted  was  due  to  the  references  to  what 
was  passing  in  France,  and  in  particular  to  the 
taking  of  the  Bastile.  At  the  conclusion  of  this 
Opera  the  Temple  of  Liberty  arises  from  among 
the  ruins  of  the  castle. " 

1 79 1,  Dec.        3.     A  Day  in  Turkey.     (Mrs.  Cowley.) 

"The  political  allusions  would  have  been 
better  omitted.  Death  is  said  to  be  an  Aristo- 
crat. If  Death  be  not  a  complete  leveUer  the 
devil  is  in  it." 

1793.  The  Armorer.     (Cumberland.) 

"Cumberland  wrote  a  Comic  Opera  on  the 
story  of  Wat  Tyler,  which  being  objected  to  by 
the  Licenser,  he  was  obliged  to  remodel  it,  and 
produce  it  under  the  title  of  the  Armorer.  As 
the  piece  was  not  printed,  it  is  impossible  to 
say  positively  that  there  was  nothing  ob- 
jectionable in  it.  .  .  .  But  certainly  no  one 
but  a  dog  in  office  could  suspect  Cumberland  of 
writing  anything  of  a  bad  political  tendency." 

1793,  Jan.  20.  "On  this  evening  there  was  no  play  per- 
formed, from  respect  to  Louis  XVI.,  who  was 
murdered  in  Paris  on  that  day. " 

1793,  June       7.     Fontainebleau. 

1793,  Sept.     22.     Box  Holly  Challenge. 

"Jack  Crotchet  says  to  Sir  Toby,  who  has 
been  reproaching  him  with  being  the  son  of  a 


And  the  English  Novel  315 


'& 


printer:  'We  that  cannot  count  up  our  genera- 
tions have  oftentimes  the  sense  to  outwit  you 
whose  ancestors  hang  by  the  wall  from  King 
Arthur's  time  to  the  present  day.  .  .  .  What 
are  they  but  a  catalogue  of  insignificants?  One 
printer,  one  compositor,  one  poor  corrector  of 
the  press,  is  worth  them  all  and  his  country 
gains  more  credit  by  his  labors.' " 

1794,  Feb.      22.     Travellers  in  Switzerland.     (Bate  Dudley.) 

Lady  satirized  for  pride  of  ancestry.  Has 
taken  a  dislike  to  hero  merely  because  he  was 
without  a  coat-of-arms.  He  disguises  himself 
as  a  valet,  and  wins  her  nevertheless. 

I795>  March    7.     Fratice  As  It   Was.     (Altered  from  Fontaine- 
bleau.) 

1799,  May     24.     Pizarro.     (Sheridan.) 

1799.  Aug.      21.     Red  Cross  Knights.     (Holman.) 

"Holman  says  in  his  preface  he  had  adapted 
The  Robbers  to  the  English  stage — and  that  it 
was  refused  a  licence — he  acknowledged  that 
on  dispassionate  investigation  he  found  much 
to  justify  the  licenser's  decision. "  Appears  in 
this  form  altered,  and  with  omissions.  "But 
unfortunately  the  spirit  has  in  a  great  degree 
evaporated." 

1800,  May      12.     School  for  Prejudice;  or.  Liberal  Opinions. 

Farce,  by  T.  Dibdin.  Satirizes  pride  of 
rank,  and  haughty  manner  to  social  inferiors. 

1802,  Jan.       15.     Alfonso,  King  of  Castile. 

Plot  deals  with  conspiracy  against  king,  and 
counter  conspiracy  to  save  him.  Hero  stabs 
his  friend  to  save  the  king. 

1803,  Dec.  Caravan  Driver  and  his  Dog. 

Scene,  in  Spain  under  a  cruel  king  who  forms 
the  villain  of  the  piece. 
1803,  Dec.  Wallace;  or  The  Patriot. 

In  Scotch  theatre,  first. 
1808,  Jan.       12.     Wanderer;  or.  Rites  of  Hospitality. 

Originally  founded  on  the  escape  of  the 
Pretender.     "The  licenser  refused  his  sanction 


3i6  The  French  Revolution 

to  the  English  play,  and  Kemble  was  obliged 
to  change  the  scene  from  Scotland  to  Sweden." 

1808,  Dec.        I.     Venoni;  or,  The  Novice  of  St.  Mark's.    (Lewis.) 

Strongly  anti-clerical. 

1809,  July        I.     Killing  No  Murder. 

Suppressed  by  a  Methodist  censor  because 
of  some  references  to  the  Methodists.  Author 
inserts  a  passage  ridiculing  censor,  "Which,  as 
it  touched  not  politics  nor  religion,  he  could 
not  expunge. "  Little  bearing  upon  the  Revo- 
lution, but  illustrated  folly  and  power  of  the 
censor. 
1809,  Sept.  Prices  raised  in  Covent  Garden.     Rioting, 

violent  and  long  continued.  "Cobbett  ob- 
served that  the  demand  for  old  prices  was 
unreasonable,  being  a  violation  of  the  rights  of 
property,  and  an  attempt  to  compel  people  to 
sell  entertainment  at  the  price  pointed  out  by 
the  purchaser." 

By  the  final  agreement,  "The  proportion 
which  had  always  subsisted  between  the  boxes 
and  the  pit  was  now  done  away,  the  boxes 
being  for  the  first  time  double  the  price  of  the 
pit. "  Very  significant  in  the  light  of  the  social 
changes  resulting  from  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion. 

181 1,  Nov.     29.     Gustavus  Vasa. 

"The  piece  had  been  announced  for  repre- 
sentation under  the  title  Gustavus  of  Sweden. 
.  .  .  forbidden  by  Mr.  Larpent  (the  censor). 
The  only  reason  that  could  be  conjectured  for 
this  absurd  and  arbitrary  conduct  of  these 
petty  tyrants  was,  that  the  Ex-king  of  Sweden 
being  in  England  at  this  time,  and  the  ministers 
being  determined  not  to  acknowledge  him, 
they  were  afraid  that  people  should  imagine, 
that  a  play  called  Gustavus  of  Sweden  had  some 
reference  to  him. " 

1 8 1 2 ,  May      1 5 .     Day  After  the  Wedding. 

"The  original  title  of  this  piece  (.John  Bull), 


And  the  English  Novel  317 

is  said  to  have  been  objected  to  by  the  Lord 
Chamberlain.  It  was  however  restored  on  the 
twentieth." 

"To  O'Keefe's  works  must  be  added  Le 
Grenadier,  meant  for  presentation  at  Covent 
Garden  in  1789 — but  it  was  merely  the  foun- 
dation of  a  play  which  was  never  finished. 
O'Keefe  meant  to  have  exhibited  the  taking 
of  the  Bastile,  and  other  recent  events  at 
Paris.  See  his  Recollections,  \o\.  ii.,  p.  143." 
(Genest,  vol.  vii.,  p.  403.) 

A   FEW   PLAYS  WHICH,   ALTHOUGH   NOT   "REVOLU- 
TIONARY"   IN    A    STRICT    SENSE,    EXHIBIT 
STRONGLY  THE  ALLIED  HUMANITARIAN 
TENDENCIES  OF  THE  TIME 

1789,  Aug.       5.     The  Benevolent  Planters.     (Bellamy.) 

Plot:  Lovers  reduced  to  slavery.  The 
Planters  restore  them  to  liberty  and  to  each 
other. 

1790,  Aug.      II.     The  Basket  Maker.     (O'Keefe.) 

Plot:  A  master  and  servant  carried  oflE  by 
Indians.  Servant  can  weave  baskets,  master 
can  do  nothing.  So  Indians  force  him  to  serve 
his  servant. 

(This  belongs  properly  in  the  preceding 
group.) 

1793,  Aug.     24.     The  Female  Prisoner. 

1793,  Aug.      25.     Inkle  and  Yarico.     (Colman.) 

Anti-slavery.  "The  only  excuse  for  buying 
our  fellow-creatures  is  to  rescue  them  from  the 
hands  of  those  who  are  unfeeling  enough  to 
bring  them  to  the  market."  Plot:  Inkle,  an 
EngUshman,  is  tempted  to  seU  a  savage  girl, 
who  has  saved  his  life,  and  thinks  herself  his 
wife. 

1799  Negro  Slaves.     (On  the  Scotch  stage  first.) 

1800,  Sept.       6.     The  Indian. 


3i8  The  French  Revolution 

1808,  May       3.     The  Jew  of  Mogadore. 

Nabob  in  the  habit  of  purchasing  slaves  and 
giving  them  their  liberty. 

PLAYS  OF  THE  "PHILANTHROPIC  BRIGAND"  TYPE. 

1789,  Aug.      II.     Battle  of  Hexam. 

I793i  Aug.       3.     The  Mountaineers.     (Colman.) 

Hero  driven  by  his  wrongs  to    flee    from 
society. 

1794,  Feb.      25.     Fontainville  Forest. 
1797,  May      19.     Honest  Thieves. 

1797  The  Borderers.     (Wordsworth.) 

1799,  Aug.     21.     Red  Cross  Knights. 

Based  on  Schiller's  Die  Railber. 
1801,  May       4.     Adelmorn,  the  Outlaw. 
1805,  Aug.      26.     Venetian  Outlaw. 

Holcroft  says   the  plot  is  from  the  same 
source  as  that  of  Venice  Preserved. 

1805,  Oct.       18.     Rugantino;  or,  The  Bravo  of  Venice. 

Much  the  same  plot  as  the  preceding  play. 

1806,  April     ID.     White  Plume;  or.  The  Border  Chieftain.    (DiB- 

DIN.) 

1807,  Feb.      19.     Curfew. 

Rayner.     (Joanna  Baillie.) 

Sir  Francis  Drake  and  Iron  Arm.     (Cross.) 

SOME     SIGNIFICANT     REVIVALS     OF     OLD     PLAYS 
DURING  THIS  PERIOD. 

1789,  Oct.      31.     Oronooko.     (Not  acted  in  five  years.) 

1795,  Oct.       21.     Venice  Preserved. 

' '  After  the  third  night  this  play  was  obliged 
to  be  laid  aside  on  account  of  some  of  the 
political  passages.    When  Pierre  said :  '  Cursed 
be  your  Senate,  cursed  your  Constitution!' 
he  was  rapturously  applauded." 

It  appears  from  Genest  that  this  play  was 
not  performed  again  for  a  number  of  years. 
But  after  1 800  it  appears  as  frequently  as  ever. 


And  the  English  Novel  319 

1809,  Feb.        I.     Calo.     (Not  acted  in  twenty  years.) 

1809,  March  i8.     Alexander  the  Great.     (Not  acted  in  twenty 

years.) 
1809,  Dec.      27.     Tamerlaine. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Note 

The  following  lists  are  in  no  way  intended  to  present  a  com- 
plete bibliography  of  the  subject,  although  they  indicate  the 
principal  sources  from  which  such  a  bibliography  might  be 
obtained.  They  are  intended  merely  to  indicate  the  principal 
works  used  in  the  preparation  of  this  study,  and  to  offer  a 
classified  bibliography  of  the  works  generally  available  on  the 
subject  under  consideration. 

SOURCES  FOR  LISTS  OF  NOVELS' 

E.  A.  Baker. 

Descriptive  Guide  to  the  Best  Fiction.     (1903.) 
Zella  a.  Dixon. 

Comprehensive  Index  to  Universal  Prose  Fiction. 
John  Collins  Dunlop. 

History  of  Prose  Fiction. 

EUS^BE  G6RAULT  DE  SaINT-FaRGEAU. 

Revue  des  Romans.     (Paris,  1839.) 
A.  L.  Goodrich. 

Prose  Fiction.     A  Bibliography. 

Catalogues  of  the  following  libraries: 
Harvard  University  Library. 
Radcliffe  Library. 
Boston  Public  Library. 
Boston  Athenaeum. 

'  I  wish  to  acknowledge  an  especial  indebtedness  to  a  manu- 
script card  list  of  prose  fiction  by  Professor  C.  N.  Greenough, 
which  formed  the  basis  for  my  working  list  of  Revolutionary 
fiction. 

21  321 


322  Bibliography 


Columbia  University  Library. 

Hammond  Collection  of  Old  Novels  in  the  New  York  Society 

Library. 
Library  of  the  University  of  Chicago. 
British  Museum  Catalogue. 
Yale  University  Library. 
Library  of  Congress,  Washington,  D.  C. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  TO  CHAPTER  I 

Section  i. 
General  References : 
Charles  Cestre. 

John  Thelwall,  a  Pioneer  of  Democracy.     (1906.) 
John  Richard  Green. 

Short  History  of  the  English  People. 
William  Thomas  Laprade. 

England  and  the  French  Revolution,  1789-1797. 

(In  Johns  Hopkins  University  Pamphlets,  1909.) 
Frederic  Austin  Ogg. 

Social  Progress  in  Contemporary  Europe.     (1912.) 
J.  H.  Rose. 

The  Revolutionary  and  Napoleonic  Era.     (1895.) 
H.  Morse  Stephens. 

European  History  from  1789  to  1815.     (1893.) 
H.  D.  Trail. 

Social  England.     (1899.) 

On  Industrial  History: 
W.  Cunningham. 

Outlines  of  English  Industrial  History.     (1895.) 
H.  de  B.  Gibbins. 

Industrial  History  of  England.     (1908.) 
G.  T.  Warner. 

Landmarks  in  English  Industrial  History.     (1899.) 
H.  T.  Wood. 

Industrial  England  in  the  Middle  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury.    (1910.) 


Bibliography  323 

On  the  Revolution  in  France: 
F.  M.  Anderson. 

The   Constitutions  and  Other  Documents  of  the   French 
Revolution.     (1904.) 
Ernest  Belfort  Bax. 

The  Last    Epoch    of   the    French    Revolution.     Being   a 
History  of  Gracchus  Babeuf  and  the  Conspiracy  of  the 
Equals.     (191 1.) 
Charles  Chassin. 

Les  Elections  et  les  Cahiers  de  Paris  en  178Q.     (In  Trans- 
lations and  Reprints.) 
Cahier  of  the  Nobility,  Baillage  of  Blois. 
Cahier  of  the  Clergy,  Baillage  of  Blois. 
Cahier  of  the  Third  Estate,  Baillage  of  Versailles. 
P.  A.  Kropotkin. 

The  Great  French  Revolution,  lySg-iygj.     (Translation 
by  F.  F.  Dry  hurst,  1909.) 
Shailer  Mathews. 

The  French  Revolution.     A  Sketch.     (1906.) 
H.  Morse  Stephens. 

History  of  the  French  Revolution.     (1902.) 
Arthur  Guy  Terry. 

The  Spirit  of  Propaganda  in  the  French  Revolution,  178Q- 
1793.  (Abstract  of  a  Ph.D.  thesis  presented  at  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  in  1906.) 

Section  2. 

Background  of  Ideas: 

A  Comparative  Display  of  the  Different  Opinions  of  the 
Most  Distinguished  British  Writers  on  the  Subject  of  the 
French  Revolution.     (1793.) 
James  Bonar. 

Philosophy  and  Political  Economy.     (1903.) 
Edmund  Burke. 

Complete  Works. 
William  Archibald  Dunning. 

A  History  of  Political  Theories  from  Luther  to  Montes- 
quieu.    (1905.) 
Robert- Flint. 

A  History  of  the  Philosophy  of  History.     (1843.) 


324  Bibliography 


William  Hazlitt. 

Memoirs  of  Thomas  Holcroft.     (1816.) 
Arthur  Cushman  M'Giffert. 

Protestant  Thought  Before  Kant.     (191 1.) 
John  Morley. 

Rousseau.     (1891.) 

Burke.     (In  the  English  Men  of  Letters  series.) 
J.  H.  Overton. 

The  Evangelical  Revival  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
Benjamin  Rand. 

Classical  Moralists.     (1909.) 

Modern  Classical  Philosophers.     (1908.) 
Jean  Jacques  Rousseau. 

Complete  Works. 
Leslie  Stephen. 

A  History  of  English  Thought  in  the  Eighteenth  Century. 
(1878.) 

THOMAS  HOLCROFT 

Works  of  Holcroft.' 

Novels: 

1780.  Alwyn;  or,  The  Gentleman  Comedian. 

1792.  Anna  St.  Ives. 

1794.  (Latter  part  in  1797),  Hugh  Trevor. 
1805.  Memoirs  of  Brian  Perdue. 

Some  other  works,  mentioned  in  this  discussion : 

1 795.  A  Narrative  of  Facts  Relating  to  a  Prosecution  for  High 
Treason:  Including  an  Address  to  the  Jury  which  the  Court 
Refused  to  Hear. 

1795.  A  Letter  to  the  Right  Hon.  William  Wyndham  on  the 
Intemperance  and  Dangerous  Tendency  of  his  Public  Con- 
duct. 

1804.  Travels  from  Hamburg,  through  Westphalia,  Holland, 
and  the  Netherlands,  to  Paris. 

'  The  list  of  Holcroft's  writings  is  too  long  to  give  in  complete 
form. 


Bibliography  325 

1 805-1 806.     The  Theatrical  Recorder. 

1 8 10.     Memoirs  of  Thomas  Holer  oft  written  by  himself  and 
Continued  to  the  Time  of  his  Death  by  William  Hazlitt. 

Works  on  Holcroft. 

"A  friend  of  a  Manufacturer." 

A  Letter,  not  in  Answer  to,  but  Induced  by  a  Late  Publica- 
tion of  Thomas  Holcroft,  on  the  Subject  of  Political  In- 
temperance, Endeavouring  to  Illustrate  its  Dangerous  Effects 
on  the  Commercial  Part  of  the  Kingdom;  and  the  Material 
Difference  Between  Theory  and  Practise.  Addressed  to 
Every  Workman  in  England  and  Every  Man  who  Keeps 
One.  (1795-) 
C.  Kegan  Paul. 

William  Godwin,  His  Friends  and  Contemporaries. 
Letters  of  Charles  Lamb. 
{Ed.  A.  Aenger,  1888.) 

Miss  MiTFORD. 

Recollections  of  a  Literary  Life.     (1852.) 
Genest. 

A  ccount  of  the  English  Stage, 
(Anon.) 

The  Georgian  Era.     (1834.) 
Article  on  Holcroft  in  the  Diet.  Nat.  Biog. 

WILLIAM  GODWIN 

Works  considered  in  this  discussion: 

1793.  Political  Justice. 

1794.  Caleb  Williams,  or  Things  As  They  Are. 
1799.     St.  Leon. 

1805.  Fleetwood,  or,  The  New  Man  of  Feeling. 

1 81 7.  Mandeville. 

1 830.  Cloudesley. 

1833.  Deloraine. 

Works  of  Reference : 

William    Godwin,    His    Friends    and    Contemporaries.     C. 
Kegan  Paul.     (Pub.  London,  1876.) 


326  Bibliography 

William    Godwin's    Romance.     Inaugural    Dissertation    zur 

Erlangung  der  Doktorwurde,  Leizig,  1906.      Johannes 

Meyer. 
On  the  English  Novel.     William  Hazlitt. 
William  Godwin.     (In  Biographical  and  Historical  Essays.) 

Thomas  De  Quincey. 
William  Godwin's  Novels.      (In    Studies  of  a  Biographer.) 

Leslie  Stephen. 
On  St.  Leon  and  Mandeville.     Percy  Bysshe  Shelley. 

SHELLEY 

Complete  Works  of  Shelley.     Edited  by  Buxton  Forman,  London, 
1880. 
List  of  Shelley's  works  giving  his  political  opinions. 

Poems  (including  prefaces) : 
Queen  Mab. 
The  Revolt  of  Islam. 
Prometheus  Unbound. 
Masque  of  Anarchy. 
Swellfoot  the  Tyrant. 
Ode  to  the  Assertors  of  Liberty,  and  other  short  poems. 

Prose  Works: 

An  Address  to  the  Irish  People.     (1812.) 
Proposals  for  an  A ssociation.     ( 1 8 1 2.) 
Declaration  of  Rights.     (1812.) 
A  Letter  to  Lord  Ellenborough.     (1812.) 

An  Address  to  the  People  on  the  Death  of  the  Princess  Char- 
lotte.    (181 7.) 
A  Proposal  for  Putting  Reform  to  the  Vote.     (1817.) 
A  System  of  Government  by  Juries. 
Fragment  on  Reform. 

Works  on  Shelley : 

Edward  John  Trelawney. 

Records  of  Shelley,  Byron,  and  the  Author.     (1887.) 
Edward  Dowden. 

The  Life  of  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley.     (1886.) 
Albert  Elmer  Hancock. 

English  Poets  and  the  French  Revolution.     (1899.) 


Bibliography  327 

ROBERT  BAGE 

Dictionary  of  National  Biography. 

Prof.  Walter  Raleigh,  The  English  Novel. 

Prof.  Wilbur  L.  Cross,  Development  of  the  English  Novel. 

Charles  Kegan  Paul,  William  Godwin,  His  Friends  and  Con- 
temporaries.    (1876.) 

Sir  Walter  Scott,  Life  of  B age,  prefaced  to  Ballantyne's  Novelists 
Library. 

HuTTON.     History  of  Derby. 

Robert  Bage's  Works: 

Mount  Henneth.  (1781.) 
Barham  Downs.  (1784.) 
The  Fair  Syrian.  (1787.) 
James  Wallace.  (1788.) 
Man  As  He  Is.  (1792.) 
Man  As  He  Is  Not.     (1796.) 

MRS.  INCHBALD 

Mrs.  Inchbald's  novels: 

A  Simple  Story. 

Nature  and  Art. 

(Edited  1880,  with  prefatory  memoir  by  William  Bell 

Scott.) 
James  Boaden. 

Memoirs  of  Mrs.  Inchbald.     (1833.) 
Cecilia  Lucy  Brightwell. 

Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Amelia  Opie.     (1843.) 
Anne  Katherine  El  wood. 

Memoirs  of  the  Literary  Ladies  of  England.     (1843.) 
Frances  Anne  Kemble. 

Record  of  a  Girlhood.     (1878.) 
Genest. 

Account  of  the  English  Stage  from  1660  to  1830. 
Clara  Tobler. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Inchbald,  eine  Vergessene  Englische  Buhnen- 
dichterin  und  Romanschriftstellerin.  Berlin,  1910.  (Gives 
exhaustive  bibliography.) 


328  Bibliography 

Accounts  of  Mrs.  Inchbald  in  the  Dictionary  of  National 
Biography,  Chambers's  Encyclopedia,  and  Walter  Raleigh, 
The  English  Novel. 

MRS.  OPIE 

Novels  by  Amelia  Opie: 

The  Father  and  Daughter.     (1801.) 

Simple  Tales.     (1806.) 

Temper.     (1812.) 

Tales  of  Real  Life.     (18 13.) 

Valentine' s  Eve.     (1816.) 

New  Tales.     (1818.) 

Tales  of  the  Heart.     (1820.) 

Madeline.     (1822.) 

Illustrations  of  Lying.     ( 1 845 . ) 

Works  of  Reference: 

Cecilia  Lucy  Brightwell. 

Memorials  of  the  Life  of  Amelia  Opie.     (1854.) 

Lady  A.  L  T.  Ritchie  (Miss  Thackeray). 
Book  of  Sibyls.     (1883.) 

Mrs.  John  Taylor. 

Account  of  Mrs.  Opie,  in  The  Cabinet.     (1807.) 

Accounts  of  Mrs.  Opie,  in  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biog- 
raphy, Chambers' s  Encyclopedia,  and  Raleigh,  The  English 
Novel. 

CHARLOTTE  SMITH 

Charlotte  Smith's  Novels: 

Emmeline,  or,  The  Orphan  of  the  Castle.     (1788.) 

Celestine.     (1792.) 

Desmond.     (1792.) 

The  Old  Manor  House.     (1793.) 

Ethelinde,  or.  The  Recluse  of  the  Lake.     (1789.) 

The  Banished  Man.     (1794.) 

Montalbert.     (1795.) 

Marchmont.     (1795.) 

The  Young  Philosopher,  Nature  his  Law  and  God  His  Guide. 

(1798.) 
The  Solitary  Wanderer.     (1799.) 


Bibliography  3^9 

Reference  Works: 

Anna  Katherine  El  wood. 

Memoirs  of  the  Literary  Ladies  oj  England.     (1843.) 
Sir  Egerton  Brydges. 

Censuria  Liter  aria.     (1815.) 
Sir  Walter  Scott. 

Biography  of  Charlotte  Smith.     (In  his  Miscellaneous 
Prose  Works,  vol.  i.) 

LADY  CAROLINE  LAMB 


Novels  by  Lady  Caroline  Lamb: 
Glenarvon.     (1816.) 
Graham  Hamilton.     (1822.) 
Ada  Reis.     (1823.) 

Reference  Works: 

Mrs.  K.  B.  Thompson. 
Queens  of  Society. 
Anon. 

Biographical  Sketch,  in  New  Monthly  Magazine,  Jtaly, 
1819. 
Accounts  in  Chambers's  Encyclopedia,  and  the  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography. 

MARY  WOLLSTONECRAFT 

William  Godwin. 

Memoirs  of  the  Author  of  "A   Vindication  of  the  Rights  of 

Woman."     (1798.) 
A  Defence  of  the  Character  and  Conduct  of  the  Late  Mary 
Wollstonecraft  Godwin,  in  a  Series  of  Letters  to  a  Lady. 
(1803.) 
Knowles. 

Life  of  Fuseli. 
Anna  KIatherine  El  wood. 

Memoirs  of  the  Literary  Ladies  in  England  from  the  Com- 
mencement of  the  Last  Century.     (1843.) 


330  Bibliography 

Charles  Kegan  Paul. 

William  Godwin,  His  Friends  and  Contemporaries.     (1876.) 
Mary  Wollstonecraft:  A  Prefatory  Memoir.     (1879.) 

Charles  Morice. 

Le  Feminisme  au  XVIIIme  Siecle.      (Grand  Revue.      Paris, 

1899.) 
Emma  Rauschenbusch  Clough. 

Mary  Wollstonecraft  and  the  Rights  of  Woman. 
G.  R.  Stirling  Taylor. 

Mary  Wollstonecraft:  A  Study  in  Economics  and  Romance. 

(1911.) 
Articles  on  Mary  Wollstonecraft  in  the  Dictionary  of  National 

Biography   and   in    Chambers's   Encyclopedia   of  English 

Literature. 

Works  of  Mary  Wollstonecraft : 

Thoughts  on  the  Education  of  Daughters.  With  Reflections  on 
Female  Conduct.  Added,  Fenelon,  Archbishop  of  Cam- 
brat's  ^'Instructions  to  Governesses  and  an  Address  to 
Mothers."     (1787.) 

Original  Stories  from  Real  Life,  with  Considerations  Calcu- 
lated to  Regulate  the  Affections.  (1788,  1791,  and  third 
edition  illustrated  by  Blake,  1796.) 

Mary,  A  Fiction.     (1790.) 

Translation  of  Salzmann's  Elementarbuch,  illustrated  by 
Blake.     (1790.) 

A  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Men,  in  a  Letter  to  the  Right 
Honourable  Edmund  Burke.     (1790.) 

A  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Woman.     (1792.) 

A  Historical  and  Moral  View  of  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the 
French  Revolution,  and  the  Effect  it  has  Produced  in  Europe. 

(I794-) 
Letters  Written  in  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark.     (1796.) 
Posthumous  Works.     (1798.) 

Contents: 

Maria,  or,  The  Wrongs  of  Woman. 

First  Book  of  a  Series  of  Lessons  for  Children. 

Letters  on  the  French  Nation. 

Letters  on  the  Management  of  Infants. 

Letters  to  Mr.  Johnson. 


Bibliography  33i 

The  Cave  of  Fancy:  A  Tale. 

On  Poetry  and  our  Relish  for  the  Beauties  of  Nature. 
Hints,  chiefly  Designed  to  have  been  Incorporated  in  the 
Second  Part  of  "A  Vindication  of  the  Rights  of  Woman." 

Letters  to  Gilbert  Imlay.     (1879.) 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  TO  CHAPTER  IX 
Section  i.    Poetry. 

Charles  Cestre. 

La  Revolution   Franqaise  et  les  Poetes  Anglais,   1 789-1 809. 
(Paris,  1906.) 
Edward  Dowden. 

Studies  in  Literature,  1 789-1 877.     (Ninth  ed.,  1906.) 

The  French  Revolution  and  English  Literature.     (N.  Y.,  1897.) 
Albert  Elmer  Hancock. 

The  French  Revolution  and  the  English  Poets.     (N.  Y.,  1899.) 

Section  2.    The  Drama. 

Genest. 

The  English  Stage  from  1660  to  1830.     (Volumes  6,  7,  and  9.) 
William  Hazlitt. 

Memoirs  of  the  Late  Thomas  Holcroft.     (1816.) 
Thomas  Holcroft. 

The  Theatrical  Recorder.     (1805-1806.) 


INDEX 

PAGES 

Adelaide  de  Narbonne 184 

Amicable  Quixote 183 

Analytical  Review 238 

Anti-Jacobin 280 

Asmodeus 185 

Astell,  Mary: 

Serious  Proposal 233 

Bage,  Robert v,  161-180,  296,  299,  302 

Barham  Downs 165 

Fair  Syrian 165  n. 

Hermsprong,  or  Man  As  He  Is  Not 168-172,  202 

James  Wallace 165 

Man  As  He  Is 167  f. 

Baxter 52 

Blake 59.  271-274 

Blue  Stocking  Hall 265-269 

Brown,  Charles  Brocken 108,  185 

Arthur  Mervin 185 

Bulwer: 

Strange  Story 100 

Zanoni 100 

Bunyan 52, 87 

Burke 27,  43,44,  157, 187 

Reflections  on  the  Revolution  in  France 28,  44,  245-246 

Bums 272 

Byron 123,  227-230,  268,  281,  291 

Chapone,  Hester 235 

Clarke 182 

Coleridge 58, 88, 165, 276-280 

333 


334  Index 

PAGE 

Colman,  the  Younger 94 

Iron  Chest 94,  288 

Condorcet 236,  237 

Cowper 271-272 

Crabbe 271 

Craftsman's  Magazine 233,  237 

Critical  Review 238 

Cypher 1 56 

Declaration  of  Rights 17.18 

Defoe 23 

Deism 40,  41,  89,  196 

De  Quincey 98 

Diderot 145, 146 

Edward  and  Sophia 1 56 

Encyclopaedists  30,  40 

Fair  Methodist 154 

Fawcett,  Joseph 88,  93 

Fenwick,  Eliza 225 

Secrecy 225 

Fordyce 235,  244 

Fox,  Charles  James 73  n.,  88,  181,  204 

Fuseli 244, 247 

Gentleman' s  Magazine 233,  234 

Gifford 280 

Godwin,  William,  43,  49,  50,  58,  59,  68,  86-119,  122,  125,  137, 
140,  177,  180,  185-186,  195-198,  207,  210,  223,  227,  230,  244, 
273,  287,  294,  298,  302 

Antonio 287 

Caleb  Williams,  82,92-99,  103,  104,  no,  113,  116,  202,  223, 
288 

Cloudesley no 

Deloraine 112-113,  122,  125,  133 

Faulkner 287 

Fleetwood 103 

Life  of  Mary  Wollstonecrafl 140,  145 

Political  Justice v,  43,  84,  89,  90,  91,  1 14,  1 16,  1 19 

St.  Leon 99-103, 122, 125,  258 


Index  335 

PAGB 

Gregory,  Dr. : 

Legacy  to  his  Daughters 235 

Hanaway,  Mary 222 

Elinor,  or  The  World  As  It  Is 222 

Hardy,  Thomas 55.  57i  203 

Hayes,  Mary 223 

Memoirs  of  Emma  Courtney 223 

Hazlitt 50,  60,  69,  98 

Memoirs  of  Holcroft 45  ff.,  54,  71 

Helvetius 175 

Henrietta,  Princess  Royal  of  England 189 

Hobbes 34.  35.  146 

Holbach 1 75,  224 

Holcroft,  V,  29,  49-85,  88-91,  102,  177,  194,  195,  197,  224,  225, 
244,  273,  285-287,  293,  297,  301 

Alwyn 60 

Anna  St.  Ives 49,  59,  61-70,  84,  137,  225 

Dramas 285-287 

Hugh  Trevor 58,  59,  70-81,  139,  202 

Memoirs  of  Brian  Perdue 82-84 

Howard 204,  289 

Hume 37,38,  137.  146,  148,  155,  156,  185 

Hunt,  Leigh 271,  282 

Hutton 161,  163,  166 

77/  Consider  of  It 157 

lUuminati 151,  186 

Imlay 248 

Inchbald 98,  191-202,257,288,299,303 

A  Simple  Story 198-199 

Dramas 288  f. 

Nature  and  Art 199-202 

Interesting  Memoirs  of  Marie  Antoinette 188 

Itanoko 188 

Johnson,  Joseph 203,  243,  244,  273 

Kramer: 

Hermon  of  Unna 183 


336  Index 

PAGE 

Lamb,  Lady  Caroline 227-230 

A  da  Reis 230 

Glenarvon 227-228 

Landor 271 

Last  Man 156 

Lawrence,  James : 

Empire  of  the  Nairs 259 

Levellers 33, 36,  42 

Locke 36,41,43,45,  137 

Lucas 300,  303 

Infernal  Quixote 73,  144-154 

Mackenzie : 

Slavery,  or  The  Times 187 

Magic  of  Wealth 157 

Malthus 44 

Man  in  the  Moon 181,  182 

Man  Superior  to  Woman 234 

Marx 8 

Mathews: 

What  Has  Been 225 

Memoirs  of  a  Female  Philosopher 155 

Memoirs  of  a  Old  Wig 155 

Methodism 39,  40,  71,  73,  87  n.,  149,  149,  154,  155,  186,  205 

Negro  Equalled  by  Few  Europeans 188 


Opie,  Mrs.  Amelia  Alderson, 195,  196,  203-213,  222,  299 

Adelina  Mowbray 208-210,  285 

Valentine's  Eve 210-212 

Oronooko 169,  186,  187 

Paine 43-  59,  89.  132,  136,  I37.  180,  224,  244,  273 

Peacock 189 

Plumptre 204,  226 

Price 43, 182,  244 

Priestley 43, 90,  I55 

Purity  of  Heart,  or  Woman  As  She  Should  Be 229 

Quakers 151,  167,  172  n.,  204,  205,  206 


Index  337 


PAGE 

Robert  andAdela 260-265 

Rousseau,  18,  30,  40,  41,  84,  104,  117,  137,  148,  180,  186,  217,  224, 
230,  236,  262,  281 

Scott,  Sir  Walter 161,  172,  175,  176,  179,  204 

Shaftesbury 146 

Shelley,  Mary  WoUstonecraft 227,  251 

Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe  ,  11,  12,  91,  120-133,  i34.  I77.  227,  294,  298, 
302 

A  ssassins 124 

Declaration  of  Rights 128-129 

Marlow  Pamphlets 130-131 

St.  Irvyne 100,  121,  122,  125 

Zastrozzi 12 1 ,  125 

Sheridan 88,  290 

Smith,  Charlotte  Turner 213-222 

Society  for  Constitutional  Information 28,  54,  55,  89,  147 

Sophia,  a  Gentlewoman 234 

Southey 59,  204,  279-280 

Spirit  of  the  Book 189 

St.  Simon 206 

Systeme  de  la  Nature 89,  163 

Took,  Home 55i  57,  203 

Voltaire 137,  145,  146,  169,  217 

Walker,  George 300,  303 

The  Vagabond 135-144 

West: 

Advantages  of  Education 259 

WoUaston 182 

WoUstonecraft,  Mary,  90,  100,  105,  114,  140,  141,  142,  145,  162, 
172,  186,  197,  208-210,  224-227,  231-258,  264,  273,  297,  303 
Vindication  of  the   Rights   of    Women,    145,    183,    237-239, 
260,  262,  267,  268 

Maria,  or  the  Wrongs  of  Women 202,  220,  240,  254-258 

Cave  of  Fancy 251-254 

Mary,  A  Fiction 251-253 

Wordsworth 59,  104,  204,  271,  274-276 


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